


dark magic

by laurenjauregui



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-09-22 12:04:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9606824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurenjauregui/pseuds/laurenjauregui
Summary: When Lucy is eleven, she finds out she's a witch. Also, when she's eleven, she meets Lauren Jauregui at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After five years of general avoidance, Lucy finally interacts with Lauren.It doesn't take long for her to fall for her, too.





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> by popular demand, a multi-chapter laucy hp au.

When Lucy is eleven years old, she gets a letter that tells her she’s been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She’s pretty sure it’s a joke, and that one of her school friends had pushed it through the door for a laugh, but when she asks them about it, none of them seem to know what she’s talking about.

Still, she shrugs the letter off as a joke and throws it in the trash the first chance she gets.

The next day, she wakes up to two more letters addressed to her, from the same school about the same thing. This time, she takes it to her parents, both of whom are completely shocked.

Turns out it hadn’t been a joke. She’s actually a witch. Like, a _real_ one. She didn’t even know those existed.

She’s practically thrown into a whole new world head first. Not long after the letter, she visits a place called Diagon Ally, and she gets her own magic wand and the first taste of the hidden magical world. It feels like an eternity before September 1st rolls around, but _finally_ , the anticipated day arrives and she boards the Hogwarts Express.

It’s when she’s sat on the train, alone in a compartment, when she realises how scary all of this is. She’s going to a magical school, and she’d only just found out that magic exists. She doesn’t know any spells or any magical history. For all she knows, there could be a test before she’s really allowed in, what if she fails and they send her back home? After the small taste of the magical world she’s already had, she doesn’t want to go back home.

She changes into her new school robes straight away, and as she’s sitting back down, the door to her compartment opens and a girl walks in, flashing her a smile. “Mind if I sit down?”

“Um, no,” Lucy shakes her head and shifts uncomfortably, picking up her book and planning to ignore the girl.

Apparently, the girl wants to talk. “I’m Vero. Are you a first year, too?”

“Yeah,” Lucy replies, closing her book again, because if this girl’s a first year, she probably feels just as nervous as Lucy does. “I’m really nervous.”

“About the Sorting?” Vero asks, and Lucy frowns, because what the hell is a Sorting? She probably should’ve bought that Hogwarts history book she’d seen in a store in Diagon Ally. “I’m not. I’ll probably be in Ravenclaw. Most of my family are.”

“I, um, don’t know what the Sorting is…” Lucy feels her cheeks turning red in embarrassment. “I’m- I only just found out about magic.”

“Oh, you’re muggle born!” Vero exclaims. “That makes sense. The Sorting is where you get put in one of four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. And don’t worry, you don’t have to pass a test or anything. Just put on a hat, and then the hat picks where you fit best. Like I said, I’ll probably be in Ravenclaw, because most of my family are. You could be in any one of them.”

“But… what’s the difference?” Lucy asks. “Between the houses, I mean.”

“Each house has different values. Like, Gryffindors value bravery and courage and adventure, Ravenclaws value intelligence, knowledge and creativity, Hufflepuffs value loyalty, dedication, and patience.” Vero explains. “And Slytherin value cunning, intelligence and determination. But you don’t want to be a Slytherin. More dark wizards have come out of that house than any other.”

“Dark wizards?” Lucy blinks in surprise. “Wizards can go bad? I really hope there’s a history class where I can learn about all of this stuff. I feel like I’m way behind everyone else already, and we’re not even there yet.”

Vero smiles. “Yeah, there’s a History of Magic class. But you _have_ to have heard about Harry Potter, and how he defeated Lord Voldemort, probably the worst dark wizard of all. It happened at Hogwarts, actually. There was this huge battle… loads of casualties. We’ll probably go over that in class, though. Don’t worry about all of that stuff.”

 _Dark wizards could randomly attack the school_ is all Lucy gets from that, and it makes her feel way less confident. At least that Voldemort guy is gone, anyway. “I… I really hope I’m not in Slytherin, then.”

Vero laughs. “I like you. I hope you’re in Ravenclaw with me.”

They don’t talk about much on the rest of the train ride – Vero introduces her to wizard candy like chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans – and before she knows it, the train is slowing down and people are grabbing their things.

“Come on,” Vero says once Lucy makes sure she has everything. “First years get to ride the boats up to the castle with Hagrid. He’s the gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher.”

“So, uh,” Lucy starts as Vero pulls her off the train, “are you- are both your parents wizards, too?”

“No, my mom’s a muggle and my dad’s a wizard,” Vero smiles. “So I know all sorts about Hogwarts from my dad, and things about the muggle world from my mom. I’m a half-blood.”

“Oh, that’s really interesting. I’d love to have known all about this stuff when I was younger,” Lucy says, “You know, I didn’t even believe my letter was real at first. I thought it was a joke from one of my friends.”

“A lot of muggle-borns probably react the same way,” Vero laughs. “We were expecting it at my house. I was just excited to see if I’m a Ravenclaw like my dad was.”

Turns out, Vero _is_ a Ravenclaw, and Lucy finds herself hoping that she is too, because she doesn’t want to be separated from her first friend here. It’d be nice to have someone to sit with in class, and since Vero knows about magic already, there’s probably a ton of stuff she can teach her.

A few more people are called out, and when they’re sorted, applause sounds around the room. Everything is dead quiet when the next person’s name is called out.

“Lauren Jauregui.”

Lucy cranes her neck and spots a girl stumbling up to the little wooden stool. She sits down, and the teacher – Lucy’s forgotten her name – places the hat on her head.

“Slytherin!” The hat calls out after a few moments, and Lucy watches as the girl darts towards the Slytherin table, the applause significantly quieter than last time.

“Why is everyone being so weird?” Lucy asks aloud, mostly to herself.

A boy next to her frowns. “Don’t you know who that is?”

Lucy shrugs. “Lauren something, right?”

“Yeah, but her _dad_ was like, Voldemort’s right hand man,” the boy rolls his eyes, “and clearly she’s following in his footsteps, if she’s a Slytherin.”

Lucy doesn’t have time to reply – the boy is being called up to the sorting hat – so she glances over at the Lauren girl, who is sat at the Slytherin table, playing with her tie. Nobody is talking to her.

She doesn’t take her eyes off Lauren until she’s being called up to the sorting hat, her heart beating out of her chest. She feels like she’s going to puke as the hat is lowered onto her head. It barely touches her before it’s shouting out, “Ravenclaw!”

She runs over to the Ravenclaw table in the midst of the applause and sits down next to a beaming Vero, who throws an arm around her and says, “I knew I liked you for a reason!”

“I’m just glad I’m in a house with someone I know,” Lucy tries her best to relax as the last few people are sorted.

“We can room together, too!” Vero grins. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you all sorts about the magic world. I promise.”

“Thanks,” Lucy sends her a grateful smile, and out of the corner of her eye, spots that Lauren girl again. She’s still alone, while the rest of the Slytherin table has broken out into chatter. “Why is nobody talking to that girl? This boy in line told me that her dad was one of Voldemort’s supporters… but that doesn’t mean they should be mean to _her_.”

Vero shakes her head. “I’d steer clear of her, if I were you. Dark magic probably rubbed off on her, if she’s a Slytherin.”

While Lucy feels bad that the girl is being ostracised, she doesn’t want to be left out herself. So, she decides she’ll probably take Vero’s advice and stay away from her. She doesn’t want to get wrapped up in any dark magic in her first year.

If Lauren Jauregui is going to be a bad influence, she’ll steer clear.


	2. one

Five years fly by, and before she knows it, Lucy’s boarding the Hogwarts Express for her sixth year. She’d passed her OWLs with flying colours – barring Herbology, she still hasn’t really gotten the hang of that – and her parents had been incredibly proud of her once she’d explained the grading system to them.

She’s aware that there’s high expectations for her NEWT grades, but whatever. She’ll get through them, hopefully. And maybe her Herbology grade will pick up.

She meets Vero on the train and settles down in a compartment with her. Throughout the journey, friends and acquaintances come in and say hello, but eventually leave the two best friends to their own devices. By now, everyone knows that where Lucy is, Vero isn’t far behind, and vice versa. They’ve even been accused of dating, but both turn their noses up at that idea.

(They’re like sisters. It’d be gross.)

They’re in the middle of stuffing their faces with cauldron cakes when their compartment door opens, and Lucy looks up, meeting a nervous, bright green gaze. Her breath catches in her throat when she realises who it is.

“Um, hi,” Lauren Jauregui glances at the two of them. “Is it okay if I, uh, sit in here? I don’t- everywhere else is full…”

Lucy opens her mouth to say _yes_ , because while she doesn’t exactly like Lauren, she’s pretty sure that the Slytherin doesn’t have any friends, and she’s always felt kind of bad for her. But she’s not going to be the one to actively seek out the daughter of a Death Eater.

She’d read about the things Lauren’s father had done, and she in no way wants to be associated with any of that.

“No,” Vero rolls her eyes, “we don’t want to be associated with Death Eater scum. Get lost.”

“I- uh,” Lauren stumbles on her way out, “sorry.”

With that, she’s gone in a flurry of robes, and Lucy swears she hears her crying. It makes her stomach drop to her feet. She’s never spoken to Lauren before, and like she’d pointed out before, doesn’t plan on it, but she didn’t want to be actively _mean_ to her like she knows other people are.

“You didn’t have to be so harsh, you know,” Lucy says, turning to her friend as she unwraps another chocolate frog. “You could’ve just said no and left it at that.”

Vero rolls her eyes again, but her expression is a lot softer now. “Luc, you’re a muggle born. I’m not letting people like _her_ anywhere near you.”

“I can handle myself,” Lucy replies, “You’d know that pretty well, after I hexed you when we were studying for our Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL.”

Vero scoffs. “You caught me off guard. That doesn’t count.”

“I’d still beat you in a duel, though,” Lucy grins, bumping against her friend playfully. “You wouldn’t stand a chance against me.”

“Either way,” Vero says, “I don’t want you on Jauregui’s radar. She’d probably go down to the Chamber of Secrets and bring the damn Basilisk back to life just to set it on you.”

Lucy laughs. “You can’t bring things back to life, V. It’s fine. All I was saying is, you didn’t have to be that mean.”

“Whatever, Luc,” Vero grins, “we’re nearly there. We need to change into our robes.”

It’s not long before their encounter with Lauren slips out of her mind all together.

-

“I have Herbology first thing with Slytherins,” Lucy announces once she gets her timetable, “Are you in my class?”

“Nope,” Vero shakes her head, “I have Herbology on Thursday. Also with Slytherin. I guess you get one half of them and I get the other.”

Lucy pouts. “Who am I going to work with now?”

“I’m sure Professor Sprout will stick you with someone smart,” Vero smirks, “she probably designed this timetable herself, because she knows you cheat off me.”

“I do _not_ ,” Lucy defends herself, pulling her bag onto her shoulder, “maybe one time I cheated, but it wasn’t my fault.”

“Mhm, yeah, leaning over my shoulder to look at my paper during a test definitely isn’t your fault.” Vero laughs. “I’ll meet you outside for lunch?”

“Sure,” Lucy gives her friend a hug before setting off for the greenhouses. “See you.”

It doesn’t take her long to walk to the greenhouses, and she waits outside with some of the Slytherins and her fellow Ravenclaws. It’s not long before Professor Sprout is calling them in, and starting off on an explanation of my Bobotuber pus is important.

(Lucy tunes out when she hears the word _pus_. No thanks.)

“Vives,” She nearly jumps out of her skin when Professor Sprout calls her name, and she notices that everyone is paired up. “Since you and Miss Jauregui here are the only ones without a partner, you’ll be working together. Make sure you don’t drop any pus. That stuff is valuable.”

Lucy’s heart sinks when she realises who she’s partnered with, and a few seconds later, the quiet Slytherin is by her side and has already started working. She doesn’t make conversation – she probably expects that any attempts will be rejected. Lucy can remember in first year, she saw Lauren try to make friends with some Gryffindors. Needless to say, it didn’t end well.

It doesn’t take her long to realise that she has no idea what they’re supposed to be doing, since she wasn’t really listening.

Awkwardly, she clears her throat, and taps Lauren on the arm. Lauren jumps, nearly dropping the jar of pus, and turns to her, her bright green eyes wide. “I- um, did you want something?”

“Yeah… what exactly are we supposed to be doing?” Lucy asks. “I’m not… the best at Herbology, and I wasn’t really listening.”

“Oh,” Lauren looks down at the Bobotubers, “well, we’re collecting the pus and getting it into these little jars. Professor Sprout said that it’s useful for healing injuries and Madam Pomfrey wants some, so I guess she’s making us do it.”

“Okay,” Lucy nods, and gets to work. After a few moments of silence she clears her throat again. “You’re Lauren, right?”

“I- uh, yeah,” Lauren nods, “I am. It’s… it’s nice to meet you.”

She figures she might as well introduce herself. “I’m Lucy.”

Lauren nods again. “I know. You were in my Care of Magical Creatures and Defence Against the Dark Arts last year.”

“Oh,” Lucy’s a little taken aback that Lauren knows her. “I didn’t realise. I mostly spent those lessons practicing with Vero. She’s my best friend.”

Lauren doesn’t reply to that, but Lucy can see that she’s thinking of something else to say. Lucy kind of wants to end the conversation there, because she doesn’t want to associate with Lauren – she doesn’t doubt that the other girl will hex her when she realises she’s muggle-born – but at the same time, she can tell that the other girl is happy at the prospect of having someone to talk to.

One conversation couldn’t hurt, could it?

“Hagrid, uh,” Lauren pauses to put a lid on another jar, “Hagrid thinks you’re really talented. At Care of Magical Creatures, I mean.”

“He does?” Lucy frowns. “How do you know that?”

“I, um, go down to his hut sometimes and have a cup of tea,” Lauren explains, glancing up at her, “he was talking about the progress everyone was making and he mentioned you… said you were really good.”

“That’s… that’s really nice to hear, actually,” Lucy smiles to herself, “I’m kind of looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures, now.”

Lauren sends her a shy smile. “I always look forward to that. It’s my favourite class. I love animals. Hippogriffs were my favourite lesson by far.”

Luckily, Professor Sprout saves her from replying. “Okay, the hour is up. Leave your jars where they are, and I’ll collect them after you leave.”

Lucy screws the cap onto her last jar and tosses her book back into her bag, really wanting to get out of the greenhouse fast.

Lauren stops her. “Do you have it next? Care of Magical Creatures, I mean.”

“Yeah, I do,” Lucy nods, not sure why she wants to know. “Why?”

“Would you maybe, uh,” Lauren pauses, as if she’s choosing her next words carefully, “want to walk there with me?”

“Um…” Lucy swallows the lump in her throat and shakes her head, “I- um, have to run up to Ravenclaw tower and grab my Care of Magical Creatures book. I forgot it this morning. I’d probably make you late.”

“That’s okay,” Lauren stands up and tucks her chair under the table. “I won’t mind being a little late, and it’d be nice to have-”

Lucy shakes her head again, “I also need to go to the bathroom, so I’ll be… a while.”

“I know what you’re doing,” Lauren seems to deflate, “you’re just too nice to say it outright. I’m not stupid. It’s fine, I don’t care. I’ll just… go by myself.”

When Lauren is halfway out of the greenhouse and Lucy can’t handle her guilt, she runs to catch up to her. “I- I found my Care of Magical Creatures book in my bag. If… if your offer is still there… I’d love to walk with you.”

Lauren sends her the brightest smile she’s ever seen, and Lucy feels a jolt in her stomach, but ignores it. She tries to return Lauren’s smile, but the thought of what Vero would say when she’ll inevitably see them arriving together is looming over her and making it hard to concentrate.

Regretting her decision to walk with Lauren, she decides to say something that will possibly put a target on her back, but will definitely make Lauren go away. “I’m muggle born.”

Lauren looks up at her, blinks twice, and then nods. “Okay then.”

When Lauren turns away again and starts playing with her green and silver tie, Lucy’s eyes widen. She definitely hadn’t been expecting that response. She opens her mouth to say something else – maybe talk about how much she loves muggles or something – but Lauren beats her to it.

“Have you read any parts of our new textbook yet?” Lauren asks her. “I spent some time over the summer looking through it. It’s really interesting and the stuff we’re going to be covering this year is amazing. We get to see _unicorns_.”

“I- uh, no,” Lucy shakes her head, still a little bewildered, “I didn’t buy my books until like, two days before term started. I met Vero in Diagon Alley and we picked up all of our stuff then. Mostly we just bought a load of junk from the joke shop. I can’t wait for the first Hogsmeade weekend so I can go to Zonko’s. And Honeydukes, obviously.”

“I haven’t been to Zonko’s,” Lauren replies, “I went to Hogsmeade once in third year for the first weekend but… I haven’t been since.”

Lucy wants to ask why, but she doubts it’s a happy story, and asking would make her look concerned. Asking would make her look like she wants to be _friends_ , which she doesn’t. She’s just being polite.

So, she keeps her mouth shut.

Lauren tries her best to make conversation again. “So… how did you meet your friend?”

“I met her on the train in first year,” Lucy replies, “she was the first person I spoke to and we clicked instantly. She helped me sort of… understand everything that was going on. I had no clue about the magical world until I got my Hogwarts letter, so Vero kind of… explained the background of it all. Not in much detail, since she was eleven, but you know…”

“Hey, Luc!”

“Speak of the devil,” Lucy replies, “that’s her now. I have to go. Bye.”

She doesn’t give Lauren a chance to say goodbye, and runs ahead, meeting up with Vero outside of Hagrid’s hut. While she’s giving her best friend a hug in greeting, she notices Hagrid sending a rather dejected Lauren a comforting smile.

When Hagrid asks them to pair up later on in the lesson, Lucy latches onto Vero. Even though she would’ve usually paired with her best friend, she sees Lauren coming in her direction, and there’s no way she’s interacting with her in front of Vero.

Nope. Her best friend would kill her.


	3. two

“Hi.”

Lucy’s busy searching her bag for her Care of Magical Creatures book – she actually _does_ think she’s forgotten it today - and turns around to see Lauren stood behind her, playing with her tie. “Oh… hi?”

“I- um, was wondering if you’d like to eat with me.” Lauren offers, glancing up at her with a nervous smile. “At the Slytherin table. I don’t think people will mind if you sit there-”

“I can’t.” Lucy quickly dismisses her as she sees Vero heading their way. Sitting with the daughter of a Death Eater who’d done horrible things is one thing, but at the Slytherin table? No fucking way. She’d be branded the next Voldemort if she did that. “I’m eating with Vero. I already said I would.”

“That’s okay,” Lauren sends her a small smile. “Some other time?”

Before she can tell Lauren no, Vero is slinging an arm around her shoulder and glaring at Lauren. “What the fuck do you want, Jauregui?”

Lauren glances at Lucy for a moment and shakes her head. “Nothing.”

“Then you’d better leave my friend the hell alone,” Vero snaps, “Death Eater scum.”

Lucy bites her tongue, because as bad as she feels, she’s not going to say anything. No, she can’t risk Lauren thinking that they’re friends, because they’re one hundred percent not. Lucy doesn’t want to be associated with her.

She doesn’t look back as Vero pulls her to the Ravenclaw table.

“She’s been staring at you a lot, you know,” Vero tells her once they’ve sat down, “I think she’s after you. Watch your back, okay, Luc?”

“I… yeah,” Lucy nods. She’d noticed Lauren staring at her over the past few days, and she’s started to regret being so nice to her in Herbology earlier that week. “I will.”

“Actually, did you hear that she made it onto the Slytherin Quidditch team?” Vero says. “I can’t believe they’re letting her play. She’ll probably hex everyone within reach just to win the match. Everyone knows the Slytherins already cheat. I just can’t believe they’d let her on. They hate her almost as much as the rest of the school.”

“I don’t-” Lucy starts without thinking, and she could’ve sworn the words _I don’t hate her_ were going to come tumbling out of her mouth. Thank goodness she saved herself from that. “Maybe she was a last resort.”

“Either way,” Vero grins, “you and I are going to kick the Slytherins’ asses in the first match. Ravenclaw are taking the Quidditch Cup this year. No exceptions.”

For the first time that day, Lucy cracks a genuine smile. “Yeah. We’re going to win.”

“Anyway, eat something,” Vero nudges her, “We’re going to be late for Potions.”

Lucy grabs a piece of toast and opts to eat it on the way to their Potions class with the Hufflepuffs. “Come on. Let’s get to class.”

As they’re making their way out of the Great Hall, Lucy catches Lauren’s eye. Lauren sends her a shy smile, and Lucy feebly returns it, feeling a little guilty.

-

When she arrives in her second Herbology class of the week, she tries her best to sit as far away from Lauren as she can. When Professor Sprout orders them to pair up, she jumps up from her seat and looks around the room for a suitable partner. Preferably from her own house.

She’s scanning the room, her eyes finally settling on Keana, one of her fellow Ravenclaws. She’s about to head over and ask if Keana wants to partner up, when someone taps her lightly on the shoulder. Her heart sinks when she turns to face Lauren.

“Hi,” the Slytherin sends her another one of those shy, reserved smiles that Lucy secretly thinks are kind of cute. Not that she’d admit that. “Do you want to be partners?”

Lucy glances over to Keana, who is talking to Alexa, and then turns back to Lauren with a slow nod. “Okay.”

Lauren beams and sits down next to her, dropping her bag under the table. “Did you listen to Professor Sprout’s explanation this time?”

Lucy actually laughs. “Yeah, I did. Figured I should probably pay attention, considering this is my worst subject.”

“I could- um,” Lauren looks down at her feet and shrugs, “I could tutor you. If you want. I’m pretty good at Herbology.”

“Really?” Lucy blinks in confusion. She’d told Lauren she’s a muggle born, but the Slytherin is still making an effort? And she’s offering to _tutor_ her? “You’d tutor me?”

“Yeah,” Lauren smiles, “I offered, didn’t I?”

Lucy bites down on her bottom lip, not sure how to reply to that. She _does_ need a Herbology tutor, and if Lauren’s offering… maybe she should take her up on that. But they’re _not_ friends. “Okay. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Lauren says, “you can meet me in the library at…”

At Lauren’s words, Lucy freaks out. In the _library_? Anyone could see them, and she doesn’t want to be associated with someone who’s possibly a dark wizard. She doesn’t want to be ostracised as well.

“I don’t like the library,” Lucy interrupts Lauren’s rambling, “do you know where the room of requirement is?”

“You want to study in there?” Lauren frowns. “Why? The library is always quiet because of Madam Pince, and-”

“I’d just rather not use the library,” Lucy says, making up an excuse on the spot, “She kind of hates me. A Zonko’s thing exploded in the middle of the library, and ever since she’s sort of had it out for me.”

“Oh,” Lauren sends her a small smile, “that’s kind of funny. Sure, room of requirement it is, then. I don’t know where that is, so… can you meet me outside of the Slytherin common room? I can tutor you tonight, I’m not doing anything-”

“I don’t know where the Slytherin common room is,” Lucy point out. “I’ll just meet you at-”

“It’s in the dungeons.” Lauren tells her. “I can meet you after dinner instead if that’s easier.”

“Um…” Lucy hesitates for a moment, but nods. “Okay. I’ll meet you outside the Great Hall. After dinner.”

Lauren flashes her a small smile. “I’m not- uh, mad about this morning or anything, by the way. About what your friend called me… I’m- I’m not, alright?”

Lucy swallows the lump in her throat and shrugs. “Whatever you say.”

“We should, uh,” Lauren gestures in front of them, “get to work. I’ll deal with all of the practical stuff and you can make the notes?”

They don’t talk much for the rest of class, and Lucy’s notes are kind of subpar. But that’s not her fault; she has too much on her mind.

Mostly, she’s thinking that maybe everyone is wrong about Lauren.

Maybe.

-

It takes her a while to get rid of Vero after dinner. Naturally, her best friend wants to head up to Ravenclaw tower together and play a game of Exploding Snap, but Lucy tries to create a diversion. She sees that Lauren is done eating, but the Slytherin is waiting at her table – Lucy’s not really surprised that she doesn’t want another encounter with Vero.

Eventually, she makes an excuse that she needs to study – Vero knows she can’t study with friends, or she gets distracted – and her best friend finally heads off to Ravenclaw tower by herself.

Once Vero is gone, Lauren leaves the Slytherin table, straightens out her tie, and comes to a stop next to Lucy. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Lucy nods, aware that she’s getting some weird looks, so she tries her best to walk ahead of Lauren. Less association, the better. “It’s on the seventh floor, so… we have a lot of stairs to climb.”

“Okay,” Lauren nods, “can you slow down a little, though? My bag is super heavy.”

Lucy doesn’t slow down – if anything, it sort of looks like Lucy’s heading somewhere in a desperate attempt to get away from Lauren. If she wasn’t so worried about her reputation, she would’ve slowed down. It might’ve been better if she had.

“What the fuck is this?”

Lucy cringes when she hears Vero’s voice, “I told you. I’m going to study.”

“And I told _you_ to watch your back,” Vero pulls her wand out and pushes Lauren against the wall. “I knew this fucking Death Eater was after you.”

Lauren’s usually bright green eyes meet hers, and for a second, Lucy feels guilty. But she can’t exactly tell Vero that they’re friends, because they’re not. “She’s… she’s not out to get me.”

“Lucy, don’t be stupid,” Vero glares down at Lauren. “Is that why you joined the Quidditch team, too? To knock my best friend off her broom?”

“No- no, I joined because,” Lauren glances down at the tip of Vero’s wand, “I like flying. My parents got me a Firebolt for Christmas last year and-”

“Parents?” Vero raises her eyebrows, “so you’re still in contact with your Death Eater father, then? Been visiting him in Azkaban? Getting tips on how to purge the school of muggle-borns?”

Lauren shakes her head. “That’s not-”

Vero scoffs and turns away from her. “Knew it. Come on, Luc. Let’s go up to Ravenclaw tower.”

Lauren sends her a pleading look, and Lucy’s stomach twists uncomfortably. She feels so bad, and if she doesn’t go with Vero, especially after what Lauren just said about her dad… it’d look really bad on her.

So she nods and lets Vero pull her along the corridor, trying to look as indifferent as possible.

After two games of Exploding Snap with Vero, Lucy’s guilt is a little too much to handle. So, she grabs her Herbology book, makes a quick excuse to Vero that she actually has to study now, and heads down to the dungeons, tailing a couple of Slytherins.

When they stop in front of a bare patch of wall and say the password, Lucy is quick to jump into the common room behind them before the entrance seals itself off again. Luckily for her, the common room really isn’t that busy, and she manages to slip into the girls’ dormitories undetected.

She checks the sign by the door that lists everyone’s room numbers, and almost every room is made up of two or more students. Lauren is the only one that has a single room.

With Lauren’s room number in mind, she walks up a flight of stairs and down a narrow corridor until she gets to the correct door. She knocks on it a few times, and after a few seconds’ silence, the door swings open and she meets Lauren’s emerald eyes.

“Hi,” Lucy holds up her Herbology book, “is that tutoring offer still there?”

She can tell that Lauren’s about to slam the door in her face, and sticks her foot into the door frame. It hurts, but she kind of deserves it.

Lauren glares at her. “Give me one good reason why I should help you?”

“I don’t have one,” Lucy answers, staring down at her feet. “I’m sorry I didn’t stop Vero. She’s just… overprotective. I was just worried about-”

“About what your friends would think if they saw you with me.” Lauren finishes for her, not meeting her gaze. “It’s fine. After five years, I’m used to it. Now can you please get your foot out of my door so I can go back to bed?”

“No,” Lucy shakes her head, “I’m really sorry, okay? Can you please forgive me?”

“No, I can’t, because the next time you’re with me and your friend sees us, the same thing will happen,” Lauren says, and Lucy can’t exactly argue, “The sad thing is, I really thought you were different. But it’s whatever. I won’t bother you again.”

With that, Lauren nudges her foot out of the doorway and closes it, leaving Lucy feeling sick to her stomach.


	4. three

Lauren stays true to her word. In Herbology, she makes no attempt to talk to Lucy, which makes the older girl’s heart sink just a little. She wants to try her best to be nice to everyone, but Vero is her best friend, a person she has to side with.

Besides, it’s not like she even _likes_ Lauren anyway. If she’d just paid attention in that first Herbology lesson, she wouldn’t have had Lauren following her around in the first place.

Even though she tries telling herself she doesn’t care, Lauren’s words from the week before are still ringing in her head. _I thought you were different_. Lauren probably thought that they were friends. After five years of rejection and loneliness, she’d thought she finally had a friend.

That’s what hurts Lucy the most, because making other people feel bad isn’t something she does, and the more she thinks about it, the more she realises that _yeah_ , she actually _does_ care. She’d been followed around by Lauren for a total of two weeks, and somehow, she already cares about her? Lucy puts it down to those big green eyes. Or maybe she’s been bewitched or something.

(Eventually, she settles on the latter. Clearly she’s been Imperiused or something.)

After a week of feeling absolutely terrible, she decides to take matters into her own hands. In Care of Magical Creatures, when Hagrid tells them to pair up and have a Niffler between the two of them, Lucy walks straight over to Lauren with a small smile.

“Hey,” She gets the Slytherin’s attention, because Lauren is too busy glancing over at Hagrid, “want to be partners?”

Lauren looks up at her, and then at something behind her. Lucy figures it’s probably an appalled Vero, but she’ll do the damage control for that later. Probably just say she’s trying to make up for how Vero had basically attacked her in the corridor last week.

After a few moments, Lauren sends her one of those adorable reserved smiles and nods. “Okay.”

As Lucy is grabbing the leash of the Niffler Hagrid gives them, she notices Lauren sending the half-giant a smile, and she’s happy to know she’s caused it. That alleviates her guilt a tiny bit.

“So… ready to get rich?” Lucy gestures down at the Niffler. “This guy’s going to get us a load of gold. If you’re lucky, I’ll even split it with you.”

“It’s leprechaun gold,” Lauren informs her as the Niffler on the leash starts digging, “it’ll disappear in a few hours. And you’re not entirely off the hook yet.”

Lucy raises her eyebrows. “Really? What else do I have to do? Jump up on a table in the Great Hall and proclaim that you’re the most amazing human on the planet?”

“No,” Lauren laughs, “although, that would be good for my self-esteem. I was thinking more along the lines of showing me where the room of requirement is. I mean… I read up on it a little bit, and it seems so interesting. Like, it’s a room for literally anything. We could make it turn into a theme park or something and bring Six Flags to Hogwarts.”

Lucy blinks in surprise. Unless there’s some sort of magic Six Flags that she was unaware of, Lauren, being a pureblood, should have no idea what that is. Even Vero sometimes didn’t know what Lucy was talking about, and she was half raised in the muggle world.

“Well… are you free tonight?” Lucy asks after pushing that thought from her mind. “I’ll meet you on the seventh floor at six ‘o clock.”

Lauren shakes her head. “I’m actually busy tonight. I’m coming down here to see Hagrid, I- uh, do that every Tuesday night. But you could come… if you wanted.”

“We’re not supposed to be out of the castle after six.” Lucy points out, and she swears she sees Lauren smirking. She’s not sure if that’s a good thing. “I don’t particularly want detention with Filch.”

“Don’t worry, I can cover that,” Lauren promises her. “You know where the Slytherin common room is now, right?”

“Yeah,” Lucy nods, thinking back to her little adventure the week before. “I was quite proud of myself for sneaking in, actually.”

“I’ll meet you there at six,” Lauren tells her. “We won’t get detentions, don’t worry.”

Lucy, feeling a little sceptical about the whole thing, just nods. She knows she’s still on probation – though, being friendly towards Lauren in front of Vero probably helped more than Lauren’s letting on – so she figures she should go along with Lauren’s plan.

Even if they get caught, scrubbing trophies isn’t _that_ bad.

-

Lucy anxiously plays with her wand as she waits for Lauren outside the Slytherin common room, shooting little red sparks out of the tip. When minutes pass and Lauren still isn’t there, she starts to think that maybe this is some sort of joke.

Thankfully, the entrance to the Slytherin common room opens up and Lauren flashes her a smile. She’s holding some sort of cloak out. “We need to get under this.”

Lucy frowns at her. “And _that_ is?”

“An invisibility cloak,” Lauren answers, wrapping the cloak around both herself and Lucy. When Lucy looks down, her body is gone, and she glances back to Lauren in shock. “Pretty useful when you want to sneak out to the kitchens. The house elves are all really nice.”

Lucy stares at her, wide eyed. “Why- how- where the hell did you- _what_?”

“Don’t- uh, get freaked out, okay?” Lauren answers. “It was my birth dad’s. He- um, left it at my house before we moved and my mom said it might be useful. Which it is… if you want to sneak out to the kitchens and get snacks.”

Lucy doesn’t get any less freaked out. “But… do you just creep around the castle under this thing?”

Lauren shakes her head. “No. I only use it for things I could possibly get detention for, like… seeing Hagrid and the aforementioned snack breaks.”

“Oh,” Lucy nods, “but aren’t you worried that it’s like… cursed or something? I mean… if it was your dad’s… or, did you ask him? You said… you mentioned parents last week. Like, plural.”

“I don’t think you can curse invisibility cloaks.” Lauren says. “And contrary to popular belief, I’m not in contact with him. I don’t even remember him and I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Okay,” Lucy tries her best to send Lauren a smile, but when her… friend? – are they friends? - doesn’t notice, she grabs Lauren’s hand and gives it a small squeeze. “Hey. I won’t ask if it makes you uncomfortable. But you’re not him and I know that. I’ve known that since first year… since the damn Sorting. I just let other people influence me. But not anymore.”

Lauren looks up at her, and finally, Lucy gets to see her grin. “We’ll see about that. If we weren’t under this cloak, you’d be running away right now.”

“Why?”

“Because your friend is right up there.”

Lucy glances up and sees Vero walking in their direction, not noticing them at all. Usually, Vero would be walking over to her with a smile and some form of greeting, but she walks right past as if they’re not even there.

And to her, they kind of aren’t.

“That’s not true,” Lucy argues weakly, “I partnered with you in class this morning. She was in that class, _and_ she wouldn’t shut up about it at lunch.”

Lauren shrugs. “That’s a school environment. You could’ve had any kind of motive. But walking with someone in the hallway after classes are over for the day tends to show _some_ kind of relationship between you and that person.”

Lucy hums in thought, accepting Lauren’s answer with a shrug. She doesn’t want to admit that maybe Lauren is right.

“Hey, wait,” Lucy turns to Lauren with a frown. “You still didn’t answer my question. About the parent _s_ thing.”

“Oh,” Lauren shrugs, “not much to tell, really. My mom remarried, so… I call him my dad. Because he basically _is_.”

“Your mom was a witch, right?” Lucy asks. “I… Vero told me you’re a pure blood, so…”

“Yeah. She was a Hufflepuff, and I was hoping I would be, too,” Lauren replies, “but… the Sorting Hat thought I’d do better in Slytherin, I guess.”

“You could’ve asked it to put you in Hufflepuff,” Lucy points out, “I was kind of hoping for Ravenclaw because of Vero. I’d met her on the train and I wanted to be with someone I knew, you know?”

“I did,” Lauren says, “ask it for Hufflepuff, I mean. Clearly it didn’t work.”

“You know what?” Lucy smiles. “You’re your own House. A Slytherpuff.”

Lauren laughs. “Slytherpuff?”

“Yeah,” Lucy grins, “and it’s like, the best House ever. Mostly because you’re in it.”

Lauren’s cheeks turn a little pink, and Lucy wonders why she’s gotten that kind of reaction. “Thanks.”

“Anyway, uh, how did you meet Hagrid, exactly?” Lucy asks, trying to shift the conversation onto something else. “Like, in the sense that you go and see him a lot?”

“Oh, um,” Lauren shrugs, “it was in first year and I was- um, some kids were being kind of mean and he scared them off and asked me if I wanted a cup of tea.”

Lucy blinks as they pass by Filch and they don’t get so much as a scowl from him, and decides that Lauren’s invisibility cloak is her new favourite thing. “And you said yes?”

“Yep,” Lauren nods, “I, uh, went to his cabin and he told me that he was always used to making friends with the misfits. He told me I could come back any time and I did.”

“That’s sweet,” Lucy comments as Lauren reaches an arm out from under the cloak to knock on the door of Hagrid’s cabin. “And he’s okay with you sneaking out of the castle?”

“As long as I’m not seen,” Lauren flashes her a grin as the door of Hagrid’s cabin opens up and they step inside. Lauren pulls the cloak off the both of them and tosses it over to a nearby chair. “Hey, Hagrid. Hope you don’t mind that I brought someone.”

“Never mind that,” He says, pushing two large teacups towards them. “It’s nice to see you making friends. How’d you find the Niffler’s today, Lucy?”

“Oh, yeah,” Lucy hadn’t expected Hagrid to know her by name – it’s not like she’s ever spoken to him outside of lessons – but she smiles and answers his question politely. “It was a great lesson. Sucks it was leprechaun gold though. Lauren really was a party pooper when she explained that.”

“Yeah, well…” Lauren trails off, her cheeks slightly pinker than before. “I told Lucy what you said a little while ago, that she has talent for Care of Magical creatures.”

Hagrid practically beams at her. “Oh, yeah. Last piece of homework on dragons? Could’ve passed for something written by a professional.”

It’s Lucy’s turn to blush. “I mean, I didn’t think I was that good, to be honest.”

Lauren rolls her eyes. “Luc, you’re great. You were really good at handling the Niffler earlier. It’s just Herbology you suck at.”

Taken aback by the nickname, Lucy tries her best to feign indifference. “It’s hard. I could’ve dropped it this year as well, but I don’t have a certain career path and Flitwick told me it’d make more sense to pick a generic set of subjects.”

“You’re a good flyer,” Lauren comments as she takes a sip of her tea, “you’re one of the best Chasers I’ve ever seen. You could try getting into Quidditch.”

“I want to, but it’s so hard,” Lucy replies, thinking about how there’s nothing more she’d want than to be a Chaser in a decent Quidditch team. “What about you? What do you want to do?”

“Well, I’ve always loved flying, too,” Lauren shrugs, “but I kind of want to be a Healer. I like helping people.”

Again, Lauren is taking her off guard with her answers, but Lucy doesn’t have the chance to reply, because Hagrid is already talking. “Shocks me that you’ve only just got onto the Slytherin Quidditch team. You’re a better Seeker than Harry was.”

While Lucy was one of the few students that didn’t harass Hagrid for stories about Harry Potter, she knows that he was an excellent flyer, so hearing that Lauren’s better is kind of a shock. “We should fly together some time. The first match is early October, right? We could do a little practicing together. You could be a Keeper for me, and then I’ll release the Snitch for you.”

“I mean… if you wanted to.” Lauren bites down on her bottom lip and shrugs. “I’m kind of… used to just playing with my siblings, though.”

“You have siblings?” Lucy frowns. When she’d read ahead in her History of Magic book in first year to get the answers to the questions she’d had at the Sorting, it’d said that Lauren’s birth father only had one child. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah. They’re my half siblings,” Lauren explains, “they have different last names. Chris is a Gryffindor and Taylor’s a Hufflepuff.”

Hagrid, who is busy sorting through his lesson plans, nods. “Taylor’s good at Care of Magical Creatures. Sweet girl.”

“Do they not… spend much time with you?” Lucy blinks in surprise. If she had an older sibling here, she’d probably cling onto them for help when she got lost, because Hogwarts’ layout is kind of confusing at first. “How old are they?”

“Chris is in fourth year and Tay’s in her first,” Lauren says, “Chris is always busy with his friends and we never see each other aside from at meal times. Taylor tends to go to him when she needs help getting around, but that’s mostly just because I told her to do that.”

Lucy frowns. “You told your little sister to stay away from you?”

Lauren hums in reply and drains her teacup, “Yeah. The last thing I want is for her to get bullied for just being related to someone. I had to deal with it, but she doesn’t.”

Lucy’s stomach drops at Lauren’s words, and without thinking, she squeezes Lauren’s hand comfortingly. “You really care about her, huh?”

“Of course I do,” Lauren rolls her eyes, but cracks a smile, “she’s my _sister_ , Luc. Obviously I’m going to care about her.”

“No need to sass me,” Lucy counters with a grin, “what time does dinner end, anyway?”

“Like… half seven, I think,” Lauren replies, “didn’t you eat before you came to meet me?”

Hagrid smiles, “I think I have some rock cakes around here somewhere-”

“Uh,” Lauren cuts in, and Lucy has to admit that rock cakes don’t sound all that appealing. “I think we should head back to the castle early, if Lucy hasn’t eaten. Besides, desserts for dinner isn’t the best thing for you, right?”

Lucy nods in agreement, “Right.”

Hagrid smiles, “Send me an owl with the date for your first Quidditch match. I want to come and watch.”

“I will,” Lauren promises, grabbing the cloak from the chair she left it on and straightening it out. “See you in class.”

“Thank you for the tea.” Lucy smiles politely before Lauren throws the cloak over them both and they head outside and back towards the castle. “Why’d we make such a quick exit?”

“You don’t want to try a rock cake,” Lauren tells her, a serious expression on her face, “honestly. They’ll break your teeth. I chipped a tooth in first year when I tried one. Got it fixed though.”

“Oh,” Lucy laughs as they make their way through the castle entrance. She goes to walk into the Great Hall, but Lauren stops her. “I need to get some dinner.”

“I’ll go in and grab some for you. What do you want?” Lauren asks, and Lucy lists of the food she wants. After a few seconds, Lauren pulls the cloak off Lucy, keeping it on herself, and vanishes into thin air, leaving Lucy stood outside the Great Hall, not sure how Lauren is going to reveal herself when she gets back.

“Luc?”

When Lucy hears Vero’s familiar voice, she flashes a smile. “Hey, Vero. What’s up?”

“Where were you?” Vero asks. “Are you just getting dinner now?”

“I was in the library,” Lucy makes up an excuse on the spot, “Lost track of time. I have so much homework. NEWTs are way harder than OWLs.”

Vero laughs. “You wouldn’t believe the length of the essay I have to do for Ancient Runes. But I got a decent amount done, so we could always go pig out on candy in our dorm. I have a stash of chocolate frogs hidden under my bed.”

“I can’t,” Lucy says, but she doesn’t have an excuse ready this time, so she decides to make a joke. “But thanks for telling me about that. I’ll make sure to steal a few when I get hungry.”

“I’m going to count them the second I get back, Vives,” Vero nudges her, “if any are missing after that, I’ll know.”

“You and I both know that you wouldn’t keep track of that,” Lucy says, nearly having a heart attack and jumping in surprise when she feels a hand grab hers and squeeze it. A hand that’s not there. “But, uh, yeah. I have to go. I still have more studying to do and you know I have to work alone.”

“Are you okay?” Vero asks, noticing how she’d jumped a little. “You’re acting all freaked out.”

“I’m fine,” Lucy sends her friend an easy smile and turns in the direction of the library. “I just felt a little cold. I’ll be back in the common room soon though, so I’ll definitely take up your offer of those chocolate frogs.”

“Alright,” Vero eyes her warily, “see you then.”

Lucy starts walking down the corridor, and once she’s out of Vero’s earshot, mumurs, “Lauren? You there?”

“Yeah,” the familiar raspy voice comes from her right, “and once we turn this corner, I’m going to need you to get under the cloak and help carry these plates.”

Once they turn a corner into a deserted corridor, Lucy ducks under the invisibility cloak again and grabs two of the three dishes Lauren is carrying. They’re full to the top with food – most of what Lucy had asked for, but some other things are in there too – and Lucy has no idea how Lauren managed to take all of it without anyone noticing huge bowls disappearing.

When they keep climbing stairs, Lucy sends the Slytherin a small frown. “Where are we going?”

“Seventh floor,” Lauren replies, “that’s where you said the room of requirement is, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Lucy nods, and follows Lauren up the last flight of stairs and leads her to the stretch of wall she knows houses the room of requirement. “Okay. You have to walk past this three times, thinking of the thing you want. So… I guess for us it’ll be a place to hang out undisturbed?”

Lauren nods, and they walk past the wall three times, and Lucy can’t help but smile at the look of awe on Lauren’s face when a door appears that wasn’t there before. “Oh my god.”

“I know, right?” Lucy grins. “It’s the coolest. I’m so glad I found this place, because after the whole Madam Pince hating me incident, it’s a lot easier to study.”

Lauren follows her into the room, and they shed the cloak again. Lucy thinks that the form the room has taken looks a lot like the Ravenclaw common room – there’s a warm, welcoming fireplace, comfy looking chairs and tables, and it’s practically a replica – aside from the queen sized bed in the far corner of the room.

“Well… I know that I’m going to send an owl to Chris and Tay and bring them here. We’re close, so it sucks not hanging out with them much,” Lauren says, looking around the room, still in awe, “so this is… perfect.”

Lucy takes in the happy smile on Lauren’s face and feels her stomach flip. “Yeah. Perfect.”


	5. four

“I always forget what repels Devil’s Snare,” Lucy huffs, “and that’s first year work.”

Lauren laughs, not looking up from her Herbology textbook. “Exactly, since we covered it so long ago, it’s not your fault that you forgot.”

“I’m _sure_ that excuse will work on Professor Sprout. Obviously,” Lucy rolls her eyes, but sends Lauren a smile, “honestly, I think I’m done for the day. I want a nap.”

Lauren watches as Lucy makes her way over to the queen sized bed – she’s still not sure why the room put that in here – and flops down on it. Deciding to let her friend – or, she _hopes_ they’re friends – nap, Lauren starts packing away her things and pulls her bag onto her shoulder, heading towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Lucy frowns at her. “I at least want _company_. Especially if I actually do fall asleep, considering we’re on a free period and I don’t want to miss Potions. Slughorn will kill me.”

“He invited me to his Slug Club thing,” Lauren says, sitting tentatively on the bed next to Lucy. She doesn’t want to get too close – she already blushes a lot at Lucy’s _words_ , and she doesn’t want her new possible friend to think she feels anything more than platonically towards her. “Because of my dad. I guess he thinks it’s interesting. I don’t.”

Lucy hums in thought. “He never invited me. Probably because I’m not interesting. Parents are both muggles and I’m not exactly top of the class like Hermione Granger, so…”

“You don’t need to be Hermione Granger,” Lauren says, “you’re Lucy Vives. And I think that’s one better.”

Lucy grins at her, and Lauren’s insides squirm a little. _God_ , what she wouldn’t give to go back to her little first year self and tell her that in sixth year, she’ll be alone with Lucy and they’re actually _friends_ …

“Thanks, Laur,” Lucy finally says, and Lauren’s stomach does a backflip at the nickname, “when do you want to practice Quidditch?”

“Any time,” Lauren says, swallowing the lump in her throat and laying down next to Lucy, “I’m free whenever I’m not in class. I’m guessing you’ll want to sneak out, right? Do it at night?”

She _knows_ that Lucy is still weird about being seen with her. She’s trying to be okay with that, but it hurts to see how freaked out Lucy gets when she does so much as smile at her from across the room. She wants Lucy to hang out with her in public, outside of classes, not caring who sees, but she also knows what would happen if Lucy _did_ suddenly start doing that. She knows she’d get shunned, too.

And even though Lauren wants to be selfish, she can’t do that to her.

She wants to protect Lucy like she protects her siblings.

That’s why she’d stopped asking if Lucy wanted to sit with her at dinner. Sure, it’s lonely, eating by herself every night, but she’s used to it. It’s not the worst she’s ever had to endure, but she misses family dinners. She misses her parents making conversation about their day, her mom about her work as a Healer, and Mike about his construction business. She misses being able to annoy her siblings over dinner, but it gives her something to look forward to at Christmas break.

“Are you even listening, Lauren?”

Lauren blinks in surprise and snaps out of the trance she’s in, meeting Lucy’s warm chestnut gaze. “Um, yeah.”

Lucy rolls her eyes, but nudges her lightly. “Got something on your mind?”

“Just- um, thinking about Christmas break,” Lauren says, not wanting to reveal too much. “I’m looking forward to it a lot.”

“Why?”

Lauren wasn’t expecting the follow up question. “I miss my family.”

“You’re really… passionate about your family.” Lucy observes, and Lauren isn’t sure if that’s an accusation or not, so she puts her guard up. “It’s sweet. Tell me about them. Like, what your typical Christmas break is like.”

“I, uh,” Lauren shrugs and shakes her head, “another time, okay?”

Lucy frowns at her, but nods. “Okay then. But if you’re looking forward to getting out of the castle, why not go to Hogsmeade? The first weekend is at the end of October. Go and get some Christmas shopping done or something.”

“I… I don’t go to Hogsmeade,” Lauren answers. She’d been once in third year, and only once – she’d been kicked out of Honeydukes because one of the seventh year Gryffindors had announced that she was using Dark Magic and the owners had thrown her out. The bartender at The Three Broomsticks refused to serve her, saying that her birth father had killed his mother.

The only place that’d let her in was the Hog’s Head, and that just made her look sketchy.

Again, Lucy questions her. “Why?”

“Bad experiences,” Lauren summarises, shaking her head, “I just… would rather stay in the castle. Where it’s quiet.”

“I’ll take you to Hogsmeade,” Lucy tells her, “We’ll go and spend the afternoon there and have butterbeer.”

“I told you,” Lauren repeats, “I don’t go to Hogsmeade and I doubt your offer is legit anyway.”

“Of course it is,” Lucy says, “you’re fun. We could go under your cloak and cause mischief.”

She knew that was coming. Lucy would’ve wanted her to go under her cloak so nobody would see they’re together. She wants to be bitter about it, but she knows it’s for the best. She’s already decided to limit their public interactions, but it would’ve been nice for Lucy to just _suggest_ them going together, out in the open and not caring.

“I don’t think so,” Lauren says, “like I said… bad experiences in the past. I’ll stay here and study. You should still go, though. With Veronica or some other friend.”

“Well… if you change your mind, the offer is still there,” Lucy shrugs and sits up, digging through her bag. She pulls out her phone to check, rolling her eyes at the constant _no service_ that it gets around Hogwarts. “I like hanging out with you.”

Lauren stares as Lucy flicks through her phone as though she expects it to work around Hogwarts. “I- um, found a way to bypass that.”

“Bypass what?” Lucy frowns and looks up from her phone. “Did I tune out or something?”

“No, uh, you know how phones don’t work around here? No signal and stuff?” Lauren prompts, waiting for Lucy to nod, “Well, I had a lot of time on my hands and I figured out how… how to make it work. And I know there aren’t any power outlets to charge them, but you can charge the battery with magic.”

Lucy blinks at her. “You could make my phone work?”

“I… yeah,” Lauren nods, “if you want me to. I’d need it overnight, it’s kind of tricky to do… I did it with my phone. Broke a few, but then I worked it out properly.”

“You have a phone?” Lucy frowns at her. Lauren knows it’s because most purebloods have no idea what a phone is, let alone have one. But Lauren was half raised in the muggle world and Mike had bought her a phone for her tenth birthday. “But you’re…”

“A pureblood?” Lauren finishes Lucy’s sentence. “I know. But my dad – stepdad, I guess, but I call him my dad – is a muggle.”

“Wait, _what_?” Lucy blinks in surprise. “Why don’t you tell people? I mean, Vero thinks you’re out to get me because I’m muggle-born, but- but your stepdad is a muggle?”

“I tried to tell people. They thought I was lying and hexed me.” Lauren shrugs, “I don’t bother anymore, Luc. I’ve lost the energy to care. But yes, my dad is a muggle. Don’t call him my stepdad, because he’s way realer than the sperm donor.”

Lucy laughs. “Alright. Your dad, then. But back onto the technology fixing…”

“Oh, yeah, um… give me your phone and I’ll get it sorted. If I skip the rest of my classes, I can get it back to you by dinner.” Lauren assures her, hoping that Lucy will be okay with her coming over in the Great Hall to give her the phone. “Promise I won’t break it.”

“Okay,” Lucy hands over her phone, and Lauren smiles a little at the lockscreen – it’s a picture of Lucy and Vero, and Lucy looks incredibly happy. So happy that it makes Lauren’s heart soar. “So… when you fix it, I’ll be able to use it as normal?”

“Let’s just say I’m all caught up on my favourite TV shows,” Lauren smiles at her, “and my Tumblr isn’t on a queue.”

“Oh my god, Laur,” Lucy says, “you’ll be my hero if you get it fixed for me. How’d you figure it out?”

“It took a while,” Lauren admits, “played around with a bunch of different spells and most of them didn’t work. But I really wanted to speak to my parents – and my sister, at the time I fixed it – so… I kept going.”

Lucy grins. “That’s amazing. My parents are still weirded out by owl post, so they’ll be way happier when they realise I can FaceTime them.”

“I’ll get it fixed,” Lauren smiles. “I promise.”

-

Once she’s finally finished dinner, Lucy spends her time scanning the room for Lauren, hoping to catch her before she heads up to Ravenclaw tower. She can’t wait to catch up on _American Horror Story_. The one con about Hogwarts is one hundred percent the lack of internet.

“What’re you so jumpy about?” Vero asks her as she stuffs a spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. “You’re like a stressed out purse dog. Don’t pee on the floor.”

“Shut up,” Lucy rolls her eyes, “just looking for someone.”

“You’re not on guard for Jauregui, are you?” Vero frowns. “Because I’ll hex her the next time I see her. Just give me the word.”

“V, no, don’t go hexing anyone,” Lucy shakes her head, “besides… she’s not like everyone says. She’s actually kind of… sweet.”

Vero scoffs. “And how the hell would you know that?”

“She was nice when we paired up in Care of Magical Creatures that time,” Lucy says, “and _while_ we were partnered, she told me that she has a stepdad. Who’s a muggle.”

“Bullshit,” Vero rolls her eyes, “she’s probably just trying to butter you up. Make you trust her and then curse you. Everyone knows she hates muggle-born wizards. Thinks they’re lesser. Just like her dad.”

Lucy sighs, but doesn’t bother arguing. Unless Vero has definitive proof, her friend isn’t going to believe her that easily. “Whatever. I’m going to head up to Ravenclaw tower, I guess. See you there.”

Before Vero can ask why, Lucy heads out of the Great Hall. She hadn’t spotted Lauren anywhere, so she assumes that her friend is still fixing up her phone. Maybe she’ll give her it at breakfast.

She’s heading up a flight of stairs when she hears the familiar raspy voice. “Lucy.”

Lucy spins around, looking for Lauren, but frowns when she comes up short. “Lauren?”

“Under my cloak,” Lauren says, and Lucy tries to look in the general direction of the voice. “I have your phone, but I need to show you how to charge it without an outlet.”

“Oh, okay,” Lucy mumbles, not wanting to speak too loudly in case she looks like she’s crazy. “Follow me. We’ll go up to Ravenclaw tower and you can show me in my dorm.”

“Okay,” Lauren murmurs in reply, and the walk up to Ravenclaw tower is relatively silent, aside from Lucy checking at regular intervals if Lauren’s still there.

Lucy answers the riddle to Ravenclaw tower pretty easily and heads through the portrait hole, up towards the dorms. When they’re in the safety of Lucy’s empty room, Lauren pulls the cloak off and holds out Lucy’s phone, which has all four bars of signal.

Lucy pulls Lauren in for a tight hug. “You’re my new favourite person.”

Lauren flushes. “Well, uh… thanks. I- anyway, when the battery gets low, just use a refill charm. It’s pretty obvious, but you wouldn’t believe how long it took for me to think of it.”

“Good thing I’m great at Charms,” Lucy grins, unlocking her phone and sending a text to her mom, telling her that she can FaceTime tomorrow. Tonight, she wants to be selfish and watch Netflix. “Thank you for doing this, Lauren.”

“It was no problem,” Lauren blushes and shrugs, “I- you’re my friend, so… I wanted to help you out.”

“You’re honestly the best,” Lucy grins, scrolling through her Twitter feed and beaming when it refreshes. “I could honestly-”

“Hey, Luc, who’re you talking to?” When Vero walks through the door, Lauren throws her cloak over herself and vanishes into thin air.

“Nobody,” Lucy says, “why?”

“I was sure I heard voices,” Vero frowns at her and looks around the room, “did I just cockblock you?”

“Definitely not,” Lucy hastily replies, hearing Lauren’s tiny, barely audible giggle beside her. “Anyway, V, hearing voices isn’t a good sign. Sure you haven’t finally snapped?”

Vero rolls her eyes. “Shut up, Luc. Want to play a bit of Exploding Snap?”

Lucy’s heart races as Vero moves towards her, and she knows she’s going to sit on the bed. Right next to her. Exactly where Lauren’s sat. Her heart stops in her chest when Vero sits down next to her, and when there’s nothing stopping her, Lucy lets out a sigh of relief. Lauren must’ve moved.

“How about wizard’s chess?” Lucy asks, noting how the door to their room seems to open by itself. “We could play in the common room?”

“Sure,” Vero nods, “I’ll go get us some seats. You go find the board in that mess you call a trunk.”

“Alright,” Lucy smiles as Vero heads out of the room, and before she goes digging around in her trunk, calls out for Lauren. “Laur? You still here?”

When she’s met with silence, she figures that Lauren must’ve slipped out when she saw the door open, so she grabs her wizard’s chess board and heads down to the common room.

She’s halfway there when her phone buzzes in the pocket of her robes, and she pulls it out to read the first text message she’s received since she arrived at Hogwarts this year.

**_Lauren Jauregui (7:27PM): I’m back in the Slytherin common room now. Hope you don’t mind that I added my number to your phone. Feel free to delete it._ **

Lucy feels a pang in her chest at Lauren’s message. _Feel free to delete it_. Like hell was she going to do that.

**_Lucia <3 (7:28PM): im keeping my hero’s number, laur_ **

**_Lauren Jauregui (7:28PM): You can text me whenever. :)_ **

She reads over Lauren’s message with a smile, and decides to change the contact name to something a little less formal. She doesn’t know what she’ll be in Lauren’s phone, so she tries to match whatever it might be as best as she can.

When Lauren texts her again, she smiles.

**_Laur :D (7:29PM): Have fun playing Exploding Snap! See you in the room of requirement tomorrow in our free period for more Herbology?_ **

**_Lucia <3 (7:29PM): i’ll be there. promise. _ **


	6. five

Lucy is finishing copying down the notes Lauren had given her when she finally gets the guts to ask a favour. “Lauren? Could you maybe… fix Vero’s phone for her?”

Lauren looks up in surprise. “What?”

“Yeah…” Lucy pulls out Vero’s phone, which her friend had practically put in her bag herself. “I know it’s a long shot. She asked how mine was working and I told her a friend fixed it for me. She asked if the same friend would fix hers.”

“Oh,” Lauren glances at the phone and shrugs, “I mean… I guess.”

“You’d do it for her?” Lucy looks up in surprise. “I thought it’d be a flat out no. She’s kind of a bitch to you.”

“Yeah, but… she’s your best friend. I doubt she’s a bitch all the time.” Lauren says. “I’ll do it. Just… promise you’ll get her to lay off me?”

Lucy frowns. “I thought she wasn’t all that bad to you? I know the one time she attacked you in the hall because you were with me, but… other than that, she hasn’t-”

“She, um, cornered me the other day,” Lauren mumbles, “threatened to use the _entomorphis_ hex on me if I kept staring at you, which… which I don’t do, by the way. She also told me to stop lying to you. Whatever that meant.”

“I told her that your dad’s a muggle,” Lucy says, “but she didn’t believe me. She basically had a rant about how you were just like, uh… _sperm donor_.”

Lauren laughs a little. “Just tell her to lay off and I’ll fix her phone.”

“Thank you,” Lucy hands Vero’s phone over and Lauren puts it in the pocket of her robes. “Vero’s really nice, you know. Once you get past the protectiveness.”

“I’m sure she’s super nice to the people she doesn’t threaten to hex into insects,” Lauren says, flicking through her textbook. “She’ll get her phone back when she hasn’t confronted me in a week. Sound fair?”

“Sure,” Lucy grins, “I’ll tell her your process takes a week.”

“Okay,” Lauren smiles back. “In reality, it takes around an hour. It’ll probably be less once I get better at it.”

“You could charge people for it,” Lucy suggests, “not me, obviously, because I’m your favourite person in this entire school, but other people.”

Lauren rolls her eyes. “Who says you’re my favourite person here?”

“Me,” Lucy sends her a teasing grin, “because I’m pretty fucking amazing.”

Lauren laughs, but doesn’t reply – she’s busy flicking through a textbook – and Lucy feels a little guilty, because she’s asked Lauren for what feels like a lot of favours, but she hasn’t given anything back. She wishes that Lauren had at least accepted her offer for the Hogsmeade visit, but decides that she’ll bring her a bunch of sweets back from Honeydukes.

“What candy do you like?” Lucy asks after a few moments of silence. “I want to buy you some things from Honeydukes. As a thanks for fixing my phone.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Lauren flashes her a smile and goes back to her textbook. “I’m not much of a candy person, anyway.”

“Alright, I’ll bring you back some butterbeers,” Lucy says, “and we can hang out in here and drink them. Maybe watch some Netflix on one of our phones.”

After a few moments, Lauren nods. “I like the sound of that.”

“Anyway, we should head down to the Great Hall,” Lucy says, packing her books away. “Come on. We’ll… we’ll walk there together.”

Lauren blinks at her, looking a little surprised, but packs away her things and follows Lucy out of the room of requirement. “Did you hear that there’s going to be an announcement at dinner? I overheard some Hufflepuffs talking about it.”

“No,” Lucy shakes her head, “I wonder what it is, and I hope it’s not a speech that’s made before we start eating, because I’m hungry.”

“I’m sure McGonagall will wait until afterwards,” Lauren says as they arrive in the corridor before the Great Hall. “You go first.”

Lucy frowns. “What?”

“Go in first. I’ll hang back for a few moments.” Lauren repeats, and Lucy has no idea why she’s saying that. “Go, Luc.”

Lucy frowns at her. “Do you have something to do, or…?”

“No, but- I don’t want to walk in with you. Well, I _do_ , but…” Lauren huffs, “I don’t want you to be like, shunned for talking to me or something. I stay away from my siblings and I’ll stay away from you in public, okay?”

Lucy is completely taken off guard. “But… is this a test? Are you like, still mad at me for the time I didn’t stand up for you with Vero?”

“No, I’m over that,” Lauren assures her. “I just don’t want to cause trouble for you, especially between you and Vero. She’s your best friend and I don’t want to ruin that-”

“Lauren, don’t be an idiot.” Lucy rolls her eyes. “But if you really want me to go, I will.”

“I do,” Lauren tells her, nudging her away, “go. Text me later.”

“I will,” Lucy promises, reaching out and squeezing Lauren’s hand. “See you.”

Before Lauren can reply, Lucy turns and heads towards the Great Hall, making her way over to the Ravenclaw table. She sits down next to Vero and sends her best friend a small smile, which brightens significantly when Lauren walks in and sits down over at the Slytherin table.

She digs into her food after answering Vero’s questions about her phone, telling her that it’ll take a week or two, and Vero demands to know which friend is fixing it.

“Is it Keana?” Vero asks. “Because she’s pretty smart, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d figured it all out.”

“Keana’s a pureblood,” Lucy points out, “she doesn’t even know what a phone _is_. Besides, they’re not a Ravenclaw.”

Vero frowns. “Well, they _should_ be a Ravenclaw if they’ve figured that out. Your friend is crazy smart.”

Wanting to laugh, because Vero had just indirectly complimented Lauren, Lucy bites down on her lip and shrugs. “Yeah, well… she’s mentioned that the Sorting Hat was torn between two houses for her.”

“Ravenclaw _had_ to be one of them,” Vero says, “let me guess. Ravenclaw and… Gryffindor.”

“No, actually,” Lucy laughs, “Slytherin and Hufflepuff.”

“Oh,” Vero frowns, “Well, your friend is still really smart. Thank her for me, okay? Or you could let me meet the genius herself.”

“I could,” Lucy grins, catching Lauren’s eye and sending her a subtle smile. The younger girl positively beams back. “But it’d be better if I just relayed the message. She’s kind of… shy.”

“Understandable,” Vero shrugs, “I can be intimidating if I want to be.”

“True,” Lucy agrees, piling her plate up with food from the bowls in front of her. “Anyway, did you hear that there’s supposed to be an-”

“Students, attention, please,” Before Lucy can finish her sentence, McGonagall speaks, “we have an announcement to make.”

Once the noise in the Great Hall has stopped and Lucy has glanced over at Lauren again with a frown, McGonagall continues.

“After careful consideration and a revision of the rules,” McGonagall says, “the Ministry of Magic has decided to bring back the Triwizard Tournament. Unlike the last attempt to revive the Tournament, the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will continue as normal. However, only sixth and seventh years may enter, and similarly to the last time, an impartial, unbiased judge will pick the three champions. The shortlisted Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students will be arriving on October 31st, and the champions will be chosen on November 7th. The first task will take place in December.

“If you wish to enter, you must be in sixth or seventh year, and you will put your name in the Goblet of Fire in the week proceeding October 31st.” McGonagall says. “Thank you for your attention. Please make your way back to your common rooms when you’re finished eating.”

The usual chatter bubbles back up again, and Lucy thinks to herself for a moment. Since she’s a sixth year, she’s eligible to enter, and the one thousand Galleon prize for winning would be helpful towards her future, whatever she finally decides on doing.

“I’m so entering,” Vero says, pulling her out of her thoughts, “what about you? You totally should. A Ravenclaw champion would be amazing.”

“I don’t know, V,” Lucy shrugs, “I mean… it could be dangerous. People have _died_ , and the last revival attempt… Cedric Diggory…”

“Lucy,” Vero grabs her hand and squeezes it, “that was Voldemort. He’s dead. The only dark wizard around here we should worry about is Jauregui, and if she tries anything, I’ll hex her into next year.”

Lucy wants to laugh, but Vero’s words are comforting in a way. She knows that Lauren has nothing to do with the Dark Arts, so Vero had basically just confirmed that there isn’t much of a threat at all. If it wasn’t safe, they wouldn’t have brought the Tournament back, right?

After a few more moments of thought, Lucy shrugs again. “Yeah, okay. I guess I’ll enter.”

“Good!” Vero grins. “And hey, maybe the Goblet of Fire will go all haywire again and we’ll be co-champions.”

“I doubt it, but it’d be cool,” Lucy admits, “they’ve probably put a bunch of protection spells on it.”

“True,” Vero shrugs, “whatever. I hope one of us is the champion.”

“Yeah.” Lucy smiles. “Me too.”

She grabs her phone from under the table and texts Lauren, wanting to know her friend’s view on it.

**_Lucia <3 (6:24PM): are you going to enter?_ **

**_Laur :D (6:25PM): I might as well. I study a lot in my free time, so I’d probably be able to handle the tasks. Hopefully, anyway. You?_ **

**_Lucia <3 (6:25PM): vero convinced me and the prize money is pretty appealing_ **

**_Laur :D (6:25PM): I hope you get it. You’d be the best champion. :)_ **

**_Lucia <3 (6:26PM): youd be pretty good too, laur. im rooting for you. :)_ **

Looking over at the Slytherin table, Lucy catches Lauren’s eye, and the younger girl beams at her. Lucy feels her stomach flutter, and she knows what that means, but decides to ignore it for the time being.

She doesn’t want to complicate things.


	7. six

_‘Please, not Slytherin,’ is the first thought that goes through Lauren’s head as her name is called. She knows that the Sorting Hat takes choices into account – that’s what her mom had told her – and she’s going to ask for Hufflepuff, because that’s what her mom was. She wants to be like her mom, not her dad, who she knows was in Slytherin, and her mom always talks badly about him. And Hogwarts houses have a lot to do with personalities._

_When the Sorting Hat is placed on her head, Lauren thinks with all her might, ‘please put me in Hufflepuff,’ but mere seconds go by and the hat has already made its choice._

_“Slytherin!”_

_When the Sorting Hat’s choice sinks in, and there’s a miniscule applause from the Slytherin table, Lauren takes the hat off and runs to sit down, tripping over her robes. Nobody at the Slytherin table greets her, not even the Bloody Baron, but she hadn’t seen them greet anyone else, either._

_Maybe Slytherin won’t be so bad, Lauren tries to tell herself, maybe this is where I’ll find my friends. Her mom had told her that she met her best friends at Hogwarts. Lauren wants that, too._

_She hadn’t spoken to anyone on the train – she’d sat in an empty compartment, and one person had come in, another first year. She’d introduced herself, and then they’d made an excuse to leave. She thought it was a little suspicious._

_Nobody else had come in after that._

_She plays with her tie and tries to concentrate on the rest of the Sorting, her breath catching in her throat when a beautiful girl is called up to the front. Lucia Vives._

_Lauren really hopes she’s in Slytherin, too. She’ll introduce herself when Lucia sits down at the table, and then they’ll hit it off and be best friends and—_

_“Ravenclaw!”_

_Once again, the Sorting Hat’s choice makes her heart sink._

_The Sorting finishes, and once dinner starts, Lauren looks over to the Ravenclaw table to catch another glimpse of Lucia, because she really is beautiful. She finally locates the girl, and her heart skips a beat when they meet eyes, so she tries a smile, but the other girl has already looked away._

_The girl next to her is glaring at her. She’s beautiful, too – not as gorgeous as Lucia – but very pretty. Maybe Lauren will make friends with her too._

_After dinner, the Slytherin Prefects lead Lauren and the rest of the first years down to the common room, and explain the dormitory system after giving them the common room password. Lauren beams when she realises they’ll get roommates; maybe she’ll get someone really nice. Maybe this is where she’ll meet her best friend._

_Once the Prefects leave them by themselves, Lauren eagerly checks the listing, her heart sinking again when she realises that she’s the only one without a roommate. She doesn’t understand why – there are three or four people in some dorms, surely they’d rather only room with one other person – but she tries her best not to be disheartened._

_There’s always classes. She can make friends there._

_-_

_Once she’s given her class schedule the next day at breakfast by Professor Slughorn, she heads down to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. She has class with the Ravenclaws, so she hopes that Lucia is in her class, too._

_When she arrives outside of the classroom, Lucia is there with the girl from the night before, the one who’d glared at her. Lauren smiles at them both, hoping that maybe they’ll invite her over, but Lucia just stares at her and the other girl scowls again. Lauren’s stomach drops and she looks down at her feet, not understanding why the people here aren’t being nice at all._

_Her mom had told her that Hogwarts was the greatest place on earth. That she’d meet wonderful people and have the time of her life._

_She hasn’t even been here for twenty-four hours yet, and she already hates it._

_When the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher tells them to partner up, Lauren is the one who ends up having to work with the teacher because she’s left without a partner._

_She takes a while to pack away her things, not in the mood for her next class, Potions with the Gryffindors, when she looks up and realises that it’s only her and Lucia in the classroom. So, she sucks in a deep breath and walks over, her stomach squirming with nerves._

_“Hello. Um, I just- uh, wanted to say,” Lauren looks down at her feet and then up into Lucia’s beautiful brown eyes. Brown eyes had always been her favourite. “I think, uh… I think you’re really pretty.”_

_Lucia doesn’t reply. She stares at her, and then pulls a weird expression that Lauren can’t quite decipher, before turning and heading out of the classroom._

_Lauren’s stomach drops. She doesn’t know what she’s done to make people be so harsh, but she doesn’t feel like going to her classes for the rest of the day. Instead, she heads back to her dormitory and writes a letter to her mom, asking why everyone is so mean and telling her how she wants to come home._

_-_

_The next morning at breakfast, Lauren receives a reply from her mom._

Lauren,

You can’t come home, and I’m sure if you give it a few weeks, you’ll love it there. You’ll learn so much and you’ll be such a talented witch. Why not try out for Quidditch or something? That’ll take your mind off things and it’s a perfect opportunity to make friends.

There are a few things I haven’t told you, and they might be related to why people are being hostile at first. I didn’t expect them to act like this and that’s why I didn’t tell you. You’re better off not knowing.

It’s about your birth father. You know that he’s in Azkaban for being a Death Eater, and I’m sure a lot of other people at school have parents who were associated with Voldemort, so it’s not just you. But he was one of Voldemort’s closest confidants and killed a lot of innocent people. He would kill muggles for fun and made a sport out of it. In the Battle of Hogwarts, he tortured kids who weren’t even fighting, just for being muggle born, because he didn’t think that they were worthy of being at Hogwarts. He tortured kids to insanity and killed people not even on Voldemort’s orders. He did it for fun and admitted it all proudly in his trial. I couldn’t believe it when I heard about it.

Even though I think you’re too young to know this and I wasn’t going to tell you until you were a lot older, people might think that because you’re in Slytherin, you take after him. But we both know that’s not true, and they’ll come around when they realise that. Prove them wrong.

I’m sorry that this is how you had to find out, and just know that your dad, Chris, Taylor and I are sending you a lot of love and we miss you so much.

Love, mom.

_When Lauren reads through the letter, her eyes fill with tears, and she can’t comprehend just how hurt she feels that people are relating her to that. Because she’s not like that and it upsets her to think about how anyone could be._

_It’s not her fault that the Sorting Hat put her in Slytherin. Because she’s not like her birth father and she’s not going to be. Her mom is right. She’s going to prove people wrong._

_By this time next week, she swears she’ll get Lucia to be her friend._

_-_

_Lauren is packing her books away – she’d been studying outside, because Lucia and her friend Veronica are there, and she likes to look at Lucia – when a tall Gryffindor stands over her. He looks to be in sixth or seventh year, and she’s already intimidated._

_“Um… hi,” Lauren pulls her bag onto her shoulder and tries a smile, “can I help you?”_

_“My little sister is in your year. She’s a muggle born and she told me that you threatened her,” the boy says, and Lauren eyes the wand in his hand. She doesn’t know any defensive spells yet, and she’s incredibly scared in case he does something. “My friends and I are going to show you what happens when you threaten muggle born kids. Your Death Eater ideologies aren’t fucking tolerated here.”_

_When three more Gryffindor sixth years tower over her, Lauren cowers and shakes her head. “I- I don’t- I didn’t do anything, I- I’m not-”_

_“Save it,” a tall girl glares at her, “what kind of jinx should we use on her, huh?”_

_The boy smirks at his friend and then scowls down at Lauren. “I don’t know. Maybe a scalping hex? Knee reversal jinx? Or anything we can think of and see what happens.”_

_Another boy laughs and shouts, “Levicorpus!” and Lauren is pulled into the air by an invisible force, held upside down by her ankle. She cries out, and the Gryffindors laugh at her, but a few moments later, she finds herself back on the ground as she hears yelling and silently thanks whatever it is._

_She hurriedly gathers up her things, which had spilled onto the ground, and she wants to get out of there as quick as she possibly can, but another large shadow looms over her and she cowers away, mumbling, “Please don’t hurt me.”_

_“You alright?” A gruff voice speaks. “Damn kids picking on a first year. Want a cup of tea?”_

_Lauren opens her eyes and meets the kind eyes of Rubeus Hagrid. “Uh… um- yeah- I- I guess?”_

_“Come on then,” Hagrid gestures towards his cabin and starts walking away, and Lauren scrambles to keep up with him. Once they’re inside the cosy little house and she’s sat in a chair that’s way too big for her, he puts the kettle on and sends her a small smile. “I expected better from Gryffindors, you know? Didn’t do nothing to them, I saw them corner you.”_

_“I- I- they said- they made up things,” Lauren mumbles as Hagrid pushes a large cup towards her, “said I’d- I’d been mean to their sister, but I- I don’t even know who their sister is?”_

_Hagrid stares at her. “What’s your name?”_

_“Um- Lauren,” Lauren replies, staring down at her feet, “Lauren Jauregui.”_

_“Jauregui, eh?” He repeats, and Lauren feels a lump form in her throat. She knows she’s going to be kicked out. “Always making friends with the outsiders, I am.”_

_“I’m sorry,” Lauren murmurs, “I’ll- um, I’ll go-”_

_“Hang on,” Hagrid stops her, “I didn’t say I wanted you to leave. Drink your tea up. You’re still shaken.”_

_“I- but- um, most people…” Lauren looks at her feet, “I don’t know why they’re not nice to me. I haven’t done anything. Except be related to someone that I don’t even remember.”_

_“It’s alright,” Hagrid smiles at her, “the people that are worth a damn won’t care about that. You’ll meet your people.”_

_“But- but it’s been_ months _.” Lauren points out. “And people are still- and she won’t even- and… I just want a friend.”_

_“You’ve got one if you want to come back here,” Hagrid assures her, “I’m always ready to boil the kettle for you. Like I said, I’m always making friends with the outsiders. Now who’s this girl you mentioned?”_

_“Oh, um…” Lauren feels her cheeks flush, “Her- her name is Lucia Vives. And- and she seems so nice but I tried to talk to her once and she just… acted like I didn’t exist or like- like I was an insect or something.”_

_“She’s not worth it then,” Hagrid tells her, “you’ll make good friends. You’re here for seven years. Just because the first doesn’t pan out right, doesn’t mean the rest won’t.”_

_-_

_Lauren had believed Hagrid then. But after her first five years sucked, she finds it hard to believe that the last two will be any good._

_Things turn around when she’s partnered with Lucia Vives in Herbology._


	8. seven

“I’m nervous,” Lucy bounces her leg up and down as she straightens out her Quidditch robes. The thing is, she’s not worried for herself, she’s worried for Lauren. Even though she wants to win today’s match, she feels like if Lauren catches the Snitch, maybe people in Slytherin will warm up to her.

That’s what Lucy wants. She wants Lauren to have friends.

(Not friends that she’ll like more than Lucy. But friends.)

“Don’t be,” Vero tells her, “we’ve practiced hard and we’ll win. We’ve got a great strategy. I’m just worried about Jauregui cursing people. Still can’t believe they let her on the team.”

“I doubt they’ll let her take her wand.” Lucy says. “And who knows? Maybe she’s a good flier.”

Vero rolls her eyes, but doesn’t say anything more. Instead, she eats a slice of toast and flashes a smile at the people who wish them good luck for the match. As Lucy finishes her cereal, she looks over to the Slytherin table to see Lauren, looking as green as her Quidditch robes.

When Lauren looks up and meets her gaze, she sends her a nervous, sickly smile. She honestly looks like she’s about to throw up. Lucy subtly gestures towards the door, hoping that Lauren will get the message, and stands up, making her way out of the Great Hall. She waits by the entrance, and as Lauren passes her by, the older Latina grabs her and pulls her into the nearest storage cupboard.

“Don’t be nervous,” Lucy says, pulling Lauren into a tight hug. “You’ll be great out there.”

“I- please don’t- um,” Lauren backs away from her, “squeeze me too hard. I feel like I’m going to vomit.”

“Hey, you’ll be fine,” Lucy grabs Lauren’s hand instead. “I believe in you.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be trash talking me right now?” Lauren makes a half-hearted joke. “Like _you’re going down_ or something?”

“That’s for the other Slytherins,” Lucy grins, “You’re different. You get my words of encouragement. Don’t tell the Ravenclaw team, though.”

“I won’t,” Lauren sends her a nervous smile. “You really think I’ll be okay?”

“Yeah,” Lucy answers instantly, “you have my full confidence. You’re going to kill it out there, Jauregui. Now come on, let’s get down to the pitch.”

“Okay,” Lauren follows her out of the storage cupboard, and Lucy is fully aware of the weird looks they’re getting as they head down to the Quidditch pitch. “What broom do you have?”

“A Nimbus 2001.” Lucy smiles. “It’s my baby. My parents bought me it for Christmas a few years ago – I have _no_ idea how they got to Diagon Alley by themselves – but I appreciated it. You?”

“Firebolt,” Lauren says, “It was also a Christmas present, but I got it last year.”

Lucy stares at her. “That’s like, a professional broom. Can I try it out some time?”

“Sure.” Lauren sends her a shy smile. “Like, um, when we go down to the pitch one night and practice together. You can try it then.”

“Next week, Laur,” Lucy tells her as they arrive at the changing rooms. Before she departs to head to the Ravenclaw changing room, she gives Lauren another hug. “And you’ll do great. Just remember I believe in you, alright?”

“Thanks, Luc,” Lauren smiles and turns towards the Slytherins’ changing room. “See you after the match?”

“Yeah,” Lucy grins, “you will.”

As she arrives in the changing rooms, she sees that Vero’s already in there. Her friend must’ve left the Great Hall while she was talking to Lauren. “Hey. Where’d you rush off to?”

“Oh, I was talking to my friend,” Lucy makes an excuse, “getting updates on your phone.”

“Is it nearly fixed?” Vero asks. “When will I get it?”

Since it’d been a week, if Vero can make it through the Quidditch match without saying anything vulgar to Lauren, the younger girl had promised that she’ll give Lucy the phone. Lauren had mentioned the other night that she’d fixed it, but she was ready to reverse the process at a moment’s notice.

“She said she might be able to get it to me after the match,” Lucy says, heading to the storage cupboard to grab her broom. “We’ll just have to see.”

“Alright, tell her I said thanks,” Vero smiles at her as Lucy gets her broom for her. “Now let’s kick Slytherin butt.”

Lucy smiles at her friend and they head out to the pitch to meet the rest of their team. Vero, who’s the team captain, shakes hands with the Slytherin captain, Normani Kordei, and Madam Hooch blows the whistle. Lucy kicks off from the ground, flying past Lauren and calling out a quiet, “I’m rooting for you, Lo.”

She sees Lauren smile, and is glad that her friend heard her, but pushes Lauren from her mind as she grabs the Quaffle off a Slytherin Chaser and throws it in Vero’s direction. Even though she wants Lauren to get the Snitch, it doesn’t mean that she can’t play to win.

After a few goals to both Ravenclaw and Slytherin, Ravenclaw are in the lead by twenty points – they’re on forty but Slytherin are at twenty – but the game is still all to play for.

After scoring another goal for Ravenclaw, Lucy searches the pitch and sees Lauren in the far corner, looking around for the Snitch. She smiles – her friend looks so adorable – but she pushes that thought from her mind. She can’t think of Lauren like that.

“Lucy, watch out!”

When she hears Vero’s voice, Lucy snaps back into reality to see a bludger coming her way. She knows she’s not going to be able to dodge it; unless a Beater pops up in front of her, she’s screwed. The thing will tail her otherwise.

Lucy tries ducking, but the bludger alters its course and heads straight for her, and she thinks she’d rather not see it coming. It feels like it’s inches from her face when she closes her eyes, but the hit never comes.

“And- _what_?” She hears the commentator’s voice. “Okay, uh, Lauren Jauregui of Slytherin just took a bludger for Lucy Vives of Ravenclaw. Is that- is that allowed?”

When Lucy opens her eyes, she sees Lauren rubbing her shoulder, and immediately flies over to her before the Slytherin captain, Normani, can shout at her. “Laur, are you okay?”

“Fine,” Lauren mumbles, “just… hit me a little. Nothing’s broken.”

“Good,” Lucy blinks at her in surprise, “why the hell did you do that?”

“It would’ve knocked you out!” Lauren argues. “And I didn’t- it wouldn’t have been a fair match otherwise…”

Lucy sends her a small smile, and reaches out and squeezes Lauren’s hand. “I’ll check that out in the room of requirement later. See if I can find a charm that prevents bruises.”

“Okay,” Lauren smiles at her. “Now go and get the Quaffle.”

“You go and get the Snitch,” Lucy says, “and Lauren? Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Lauren says, and flies off, not looking all that in pain. Lucy really hopes that she isn’t hurt.

She flies back over to Vero, who sends her a puzzled look as the other Ravenclaw Chaser throws her the Quaffle. Lucy dodges the Slytherin Chasers and throws the ball through the left hoop, hearing cheers from the Ravenclaw side and boos from the Slytherins.

Vero high fives her for her goal, and she sees Lauren flash her a smile, but it doesn’t last for long, because the Slytherin heads into a dive and the commentator of the match announces. “Jauregui of Slytherin has spotted the Snitch!”

The Ravenclaw Seeker, who was on the opposite end of the pitch, speeds towards Lauren, but the Ravenclaw’s Cleansweep Eleven is nothing compared to Lauren’s Firebolt, and the Slytherins in the stands are cheering as the commentator shouts, “Slytherin catch the Snitch!”

The final score is sixty to one hundred and seventy, and as Lucy gets off her broom, she mouths _congratulations_ at Lauren. Even though she’d wanted to win, she’d hoped that this would happen – Lauren’s teammates, who weren’t acknowledging her before, are gathered around her, telling her that she flew really well.

Lucy watches as a little Hufflepuff girl runs down from the stands and practically pounces on Lauren, pulling her in for a tight hug. She figures it’s Lauren’s sister – the girl looks like she’s in first or second year – and the sight makes Lucy smile.

“I bet she hexed that bludger,” Vero says as she stops next to her. “And then took it to look like a hero.”

Lucy blinks in surprise. “No, she didn’t. Why do you think that _everything_ she does is associated with the Dark Arts? She could _breathe_ and you’d be like _‘clearly she’s hexing the air with her lungs’_. Leave her alone.”

With that, she stalks off the Quidditch pitch and heads to the room of requirement, settling down on the bed in the study room she uses with Lauren. She knows that her Quidditch robes are muddy and she’s probably ruining the sheets, but she doesn’t care. She just wants to have a little rest.

She’s not alone for long, because a few minutes later, Lauren arrives in the room, holding out Vero’s phone. “Hey. I went to my dorm to get this. It’s all fixed.”

Lucy sits up with a frown, taking the phone. “Aren’t you celebrating with your teammates?”

“No,” Lauren shakes her head and sits down. “I’m celebrating with you. You’re the one who told me you believed in me.”

Lucy pulls Lauren in for a tight hug. “I do. Sorry, I didn’t change out of my Quidditch robes, so if I get mud on you… yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Lauren pulls away from the hug with a smile. “Thanks for… believing in me, Lucy. I really needed that.”

“Would you want to go for a walk?” Lucy asks, sitting up and stretching, “I need to head back to the Quidditch pitch anyway, my school robes are in there and I need to change, and… it’d be nice to have company.”

“Okay,” Lauren nods, “yeah, let’s go for a walk.”

“Can we use your cloak?” Lucy asks. “I don’t want to run into Vero. I left her a little abruptly... I don’t want her to ask me a bunch of questions.”

“Sure,” Lauren replies, pulling it out of her bag. She straightens it out and pulls it over herself, and before she knows it, Lucy’s under the cloak, too. “Why don’t you want to talk to her?”

“She said something out of line,” Lucy shrugs. “I got mad and yelled at her a little. I was actually going to tell you to reverse the thing you did to her phone…”

“Oh,” Lauren glances at her for a moment, “so… the thing she said was about me?”

“Yeah,” Lucy grabs Lauren’s hand and gives it a small squeeze. She looks at Lauren, too busy staring at her friend’s emerald eyes that she nearly bumps into a first year. She probably would’ve, if Lauren hadn’t grabbed her. “It wasn’t too bad, though. I just… wanted to defend my friend.”

“I appreciate it,” Lauren flashes her a smile as they make their way into the Ravenclaw changing rooms. Lucy grabs her school robes from where she’d left them, and Lauren ducks out from under the cloak to let her change under it, before they set off again. “So… room of requirement again?”

“Sure,” Lucy nods, a little too preoccupied about how she’d not taken her school sweater down to the Quidditch pitch this morning – she must’ve dropped it on her way out of the dorm – so she’s a little cold. “We could watch Netflix…”

“Are you cold?” Lauren asks, and Lucy nods, so the younger girl takes off her green and silver scarf and hands it over. “There. I’d offer you my robes too, but then I’d feel underdressed.”

Lucy takes the Slytherin’s scarf, and while she feels weird wearing another house’s colours, she appreciates the warmth it gives her.

As though Lauren had read her mind, she smiles and says, “You look good in green.”

“I bet you’d look good in blue,” Lucy counters without even thinking about it, and it sounds a lot like flirting, and she berates herself for it afterwards. Lauren needs a friend, not something else.

They head back to the room of requirement, and after a few YouTube videos – Lauren’s favourites are generally the cat ones – they part ways, Lauren heading for the Slytherin common room to do a bit of studying, and Lucy to the Great Hall for food.

(Lucy’s a little suspicious when Lauren makes an excuse to leave when she asks _what_ she’s studying, but she decides to text her later about it.)

When she sits down in the Great Hall next to Vero, she’s not sure why people are staring at her. Or why Vero’s looking at her like she’s grown another head.

Feeling sick of the staring, Lucy sighs. “Look, V, I’m sorry for snapping at you this morning, but-”

“Why are you wearing a Slytherin scarf?”

At Vero’s words, Lucy, looks down at herself and realises that she’s still wearing Lauren’s scarf. She’d apparently forgotten to give it back. “Oh, uh… didn’t notice, must’ve picked up the wrong one in the library, I was sat next to a Slytherin-”

“I was in the library earlier,” Vero says, “and you weren’t there. Why are you lying to me?”

“Fine, I looked cold and someone gave me their scarf,” Lucy rolls her eyes, “also, I have your phone.”

She’d hoped that’d be a good distraction, but Vero just takes her phone and continues asking questions. “Who? You don’t have any friends in Slytherin-”

Eventually, Lucy huffs and shakes her head, “Fine, okay, Lauren. Lauren gave me her scarf.”

“Jauregui?” Vero looks at her like she’s crazy, “Take that thing off! She probably cursed it-”

“I’ve been wearing it all day and I’m perfectly fine,” Lucy interrupts before her friend can start firing off accusations. “Is it so hard to believe that she’s actually a nice person?”

“Yeah, actually,” Vero rolls her eyes, “her dad was a dark wizard, and she’s in Slytherin. What are you expecting? Take the fucking scarf off.”

“No,” Lucy shakes her head, “god, I don’t want to fight with you, Vero, but you’re making it so hard. Someone did a nice thing for me today. It just so happened to be Lauren Jauregui. Actually, she did _two_ nice things for me today, she took a damn bludger for me.”

Vero scoffs. “So what? You’re choosing some Death Eater over me? Even though you’ve talked to her like, twice?”

“You’re my best friend,” Lucy huffs, “but stop being such a bitch. If you don’t like her, leave her alone.”

“Not when she won’t leave you alone,” Vero huffs, “look, I don’t want to sound mean. Honestly, that’s not me. But I’m not letting you get targeted by some Death Eater because you were too trusting.”

Lucy huffs and puts her fork down. “I’m not hungry anymore. I’m going to the common room.”

“Hey, no,” Vero gets up and follows her out of the Great Hall, and Lucy’s pretty thankful for that when she trips on something and Vero stops her from falling flat on her face. “What the hell? Someone let their cat get out?”

Lucy looks down at what she’d tripped on and sees a tiny, fluffy kitten on the floor, looking up at her in surprise. She kneels down and picks the cat up – she can’t resist, it’s the fluffiest thing she’s ever seen – and strokes along its fur. It purrs happily.

“You’re adorable,” Lucy mumbles to it, “sorry for tripping over you.”

Vero tries petting the cat and it hisses at her. “What the hell? You’re the one that tripped over it?”

“Come on, we’re taking it back to our dorm,” Lucy says, “dinner’s nearly over and the poor thing will get trampled if we leave it out here. Look how tiny it is!”

“Fine,” Vero says, “but if it hisses at me again, it’s going back out.”

“Aw,” Lucy scratches the kitten behind its ear as she follows Vero to Ravenclaw tower, “who’s your owner, huh? You’re the cutest little thing.”

The cat meows at her, and she can’t help but smile. “We’ll find your person tomorrow. Tonight you’ll get to sleep over in my dorm. I’m so texting Lauren about this.”

She swears the cat smiles, but that’s impossible, so she shrugs it off. Clearly it’s nothing to be worried about.

When she arrives at her dorm, she sets the kitten down on her bed, and Vero announces that she’s going to head to the common room. Lucy just shrugs, a little preoccupied with her new feline friend, and Vero leaves the room.

After a few moments, the kitten jumps off the bed, and then it’s not there at all, because Lauren Jauregui is in its place.

It takes Lucy a while to find her words, and what comes out isn’t all that intelligent. “I- _what_?”

“I did it,” Lauren grins at her, “it took _months_ , but I fucking did it.”

“You’re…” Lucy stares at her, still in shock, “you’re an Animagus? But you’re not registered, I had to check the registry of Animagi for Transfiguration and you’re not- you’re not on there.”

“I know, I just did it! I did all the preparations, and I was so scared it’d go wrong,” Lauren sits down next to her, “that’s what I was going to do. Earlier, when I said I was studying. I was doing it for the first time because the potion was finally ready and it _worked_.”

“That’s- that’s really complex magic, Lo…” Lucy trails off, “it could’ve gone so wrong! You could’ve been half human, half cat for the rest of your life!”

Lauren shrugs, “Yeah, but it’d have been a funny story to tell at parties. Either way, I did it, Luc! My Patronus is a cat, too, so I guess it’s the same thing?”

“I- are you planning on telling anyone about this?” Lucy frowns. “Like, the Ministry, or…?”

Lauren shakes her head, “They wouldn’t believe me. A sixteen year old Animagus? Yeah, right. Totally believable. Anyway, there’s a lot of pros to being unregistered.”

“Yeah, except for the possible prison sentence!” Lucy points out. “I don’t want you stuck in jail.”

Lauren shrugs. “Well… you’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”

Lucy shakes her head. “No, but-”

“Problem solved, then,” Lauren flashes her a grin, “anyway… I’m the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, huh?”

“Oh, shut up, Jauregui,” Lucy rolls her eyes, “you were a tiny, fluffy, unassuming little cat. Now you’ve revealed your true form, I totally take that statement back.”

Lauren pouts at her. “What about now?”

“Nope,” Lucy shakes her head, but those big green eyes are totally cracking her resolve, “not going to work.”

“Fine,” Lauren shrugs, and seconds later, she’s a kitten again and she clambers onto Lucy’s lap and sends her the most adorable look she’s ever seen.

“Fine, okay!” Lucy holds her hands up in surrender. “You’re adorable. Happy now?”

Lauren purrs in response and cuddles up to her, and Lucy doesn’t have the heart to push her away. Lucy gets herself comfortable on her bed, laying back and resting her head on the pillow. After a few seconds, she feels Lauren move up to her stomach and get herself comfortable, and Lucy strokes her fingers through the kitten’s fur. Really, Lauren is incredibly tiny.

After a little while, she drifts off to sleep.


	9. eight

When Vero wakes her up the next day, she’s still in her robes, and Lauren is still asleep on her stomach. In cat form, obviously. If Vero had woken up to a wild Lauren Jauregui in Lucy’s bed, she doubts she’d be too happy.

After Vero gets changed and heads down to the Great Hall, Lucy wakes Lauren up. The younger girl jumps down from the bed, and a few seconds later, the kitten is gone and Lauren’s stood there in dishevelled Slytherin robes.

“Hey,” Lucy greets her, “you know what today is?”

“When the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang people get here,” Lauren answers, sitting down next to her, “and the Goblet of Fire is lit.”

“Yep,” Lucy hums in reply, “I’m going to put my name in. Are you?”

“I mean… might as well, right?” Lauren shrugs. “It won’t pick me, so what’s the harm?”

Lucy frowns. “It’s more likely to pick you than me. You’re the one who became a fucking _Animagus_ at sixteen.”

Lauren laughs. “Either way, I’m not sure people would be too happy if it was me. They want a champion they can root for, someone like you. Even Vero, people like her.”

“I’d root for you,” Lucy squeezes her hand, “and I know you’d do the same for me.”

“Definitely,” Lauren confirms with a smile, “do you want to head down to breakfast?”

“Wait, will the Slytherins think you’re missing?” Lucy frowns. “You left your dorm last night and didn’t come back. What if they think you’re off sacrificing people to Voldemort?”

At Lucy’s joke, Lauren snorts with laughter. “I left my dorm _as a cat._ For all they know, I’m still up there. The only thing that left the Slytherin common room last night was an unassuming kitten.”

“I might sneak in again,” Lucy says, “come and hang out with you. All I’d have to do is tail a couple of Slytherins and jump in the entrance after they say the password-”

“The password is ‘Triwizard’ at the moment,” Lauren says, “it was changed after the announcement. Just say that and sneak up. Wear my scarf for good measure.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to give that back to you,” Lucy comments, mostly to herself, “Well, I’ll give it back in the Slytherin common room tonight.”

Lauren grins. “Okay then. We can watch Netflix and stuff.”

“Cool,” Lucy grins as she opens the door to her dorm, “now change back into a cat, you’re cuter that way. And we can sit together at breakfast.”

Lauren rolls her eyes. “I’m cute in every way.”

“I’m not arguing with that,” Lucy notes how Lauren’s cheeks turn pink, “but cats are cuter than people in general. Even the cutest human would be outdone by a cat.”

Lauren sends her a small smile, and a few seconds later, Lucy’s being followed out of the dormitory by the tiny black cat. As they make their way down to the common room, Keana smiles at her. “Nice cat, Lucy.”

“Oh, thanks,” Lucy flashes her a smile, “I mean, she’s a little bit of a brat at times, always hissing at Vero, and she scratches everyone. But sure. She’s nice too, I guess.”

She tries not to laugh at the tiny scowl she gets from the kitten as she heads out of the portrait hole and down the stairs to the Great Hall. When she sits down at the Ravenclaw table next to Vero, Lauren hops up on the bench and squeezes herself between them.

Lucy finds herself sneaking bits of toast to Lauren as she eats her breakfast, Vero rolling her eyes and saying, “I thought you were going to find its owner.”

Lauren meows indignantly, and Lucy laughs. “I’m working on it. Can’t send her back hungry, can I?”

Lauren rubs against her side and sends Vero a possessive meow, and Lucy tries not to laugh. She wants to say, “You’re supposed to be a cat, cats don’t glare at people,” but then she realises that actually, sometimes they do.

After she has another slice of toast, Lucy heads out of the Great Hall under the guise that she’s heading to Potions early. Since both her classroom and Lauren’s common room are in the dungeons, she can walk Lauren to the common room and say goodbye properly.

Once they’re in an empty corridor, Lauren turns back into herself and follows Lucy down to the dungeons. “I’ll see you in Herbology later?”

“You will,” Lucy grins, “You know, this is off topic, but yesterday at the Quidditch match, was that your sister? The little Hufflepuff who ran over to you?”

“Yeah,” Lauren nods, “Taylor. She asked me why I took the bludger for you, too. And then called me stupid.”

Lucy laughs. “I like your sister already.”

“Shut up,” Lauren rolls her eyes, “Tay’s nice to me most of the time. Just apparently not when I take bludgers for the opposing team.”

“It was kind of dumb,” Lucy replies, “like, your captain would’ve killed you if you guys hadn’t won.”

Lauren shrugs. “It was worth it. I didn’t want to see you get knocked out.”

As they stop in front of the Slytherin common room, Lucy’s taken off guard when Lauren pulls her in for a hug. She squeezes her around the midriff and smiles at her. “See you in Herbology?”

“Yeah,” Lauren mumbles against her, “Herbology.”

-

After a rather uneventful Herbology lesson – Lucy actually paid attention and Lauren feigned surprise – they head to the entrance hall to see the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students arriving. It’s not as extravagant as they expect, but it’s interesting to see the competition, since the students who came to Hogwarts are shortlisted by the each school’s head.

“That Durmstrang girl looked a little threatening,” Lauren tells her as they head up to the room of requirement. “Anyway… I have a proposition for you.”

“You do?” Lucy frowns. “What’s up?”

“We could go to Hogsmeade. Like, now.” Lauren suggests. “We’d have to go under the cloak, in case we run into teachers, but I found a secret passageway into Honeydukes’ cellar. It’s behind the one eyed witch statue.”

“And you want to go now?” Lucy stares at her in shock. “Lauren Michelle, what a rebellious suggestion.”

Lauren laughs. “Is that a yes or a no?”

“How did you find out about it?” Lucy asks as they divert their path to the one eyed witch statue – she figures that’s an indirect _yes_. “And… why do you want to go?”

“Since classes are cancelled for the rest of the day, nobody will notice that we’re missing.” Lauren reasons. “Especially with all the excitement of the new arrivals. We could go and have a drink and come back and it’d be like we never left.”

“You know, sometimes I’m surprised that you’re in Slytherin,” Lucy points out, “this isn’t one of those times. You’re actually pretty cunning.”

“I guess,” Lauren shrugs as they arrive at the statue, “get the cloak out. It’s in my bag.”

Lucy gets the cloak out and throws it over them both, and Lauren taps the statue with her wand, muttering, “ _Dissendium.”_ When the back of the statue opens up to reveal a narrow passageway, Lucy follows Lauren into it. “It’s tight in here.”

“Yeah.” Lauren comments, pulling the cloak off, “I’m a little claustrophobic, so I’m going to be a cat for this. Until we get to the end of the passage. Keep the cloak on.”

“Okay,” Lucy squeezes Lauren’s hand, but then it’s pulled from her grip, and the shadowy figure that was Lauren is gone. She’s careful to walk slowly – she doesn’t want another incident of her tripping over Lauren – until they reach the end of the passage and Lauren turns back into herself.

Lucy pulls the cloak over Lauren as they climb out of the passageway and manage to get out into the streets of Hogsmeade undetected.

They head into the Three Broomsticks behind a few people, and sneak behind the bar and grab a case of butterbeer. Lauren drops five Galleons on the counter, murmuring a small, “that should cover it,” to Lucy, and then they head out, finding a quiet space to sit, away from any possible teachers.

Lucy opens the butterbeers and passes one to Lauren, who smiles thankfully. “You know, this is the first time I’ve been to Hogsmeade in years. I wish I could come more.”

“What happened?” Lucy asks. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“Um…” Lauren glances down at her feet and shrugs. “Nobody would let me in. And if I was allowed in, they wouldn’t serve me. I got kicked out of Honeydukes and The Three Broomsticks. So… I didn’t bother coming again.”

“Laur…” Lucy trails off with a frown. “That’s horrible. I’m so fucking sorry.”

“After five years, I’m used to it,” Lauren shrugs and stares down at the table. Lucy frowns and moves to give her friend a hug. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a huge deal,” Lucy huffs, “and you’re coming on the next Hogsmeade weekend with me. I know I already said I’d go with Vero, but I can cancel. Or you can come under your cloak. Or as my feline companion.”

Lauren laughs. “You’re not going to give up until I come with you, are you?”

“Nope,” Lucy confirms, “you’re coming even if I have to drag you here. Am I cancelling with Vero-”

“No,” Lauren shakes her head, “I’ll come as your _feline companion_.”

“Okay then,” Lucy nods, “also, do you think you can teach me how to be an Animagus? Seems like a useful thing to do, you know?”

“It takes a while,” Lauren tells her, “for example, you have to hold a Mandrake leaf in your mouth for an entire month. No taking it out, not even to eat. And if you swallow it while you’re sleeping, you have to start over. Thankfully I did that part in summer. And started brewing the potion then, too.”

“On second thought, I’ll stick to my Patronus being the only animal in my life,” Lucy replies, “but don’t hiss at Vero, okay? I’m going to make you guys be friends, even if it takes like, ten years.”

“It’ll take more than that,” Lauren laughs, “I doubt Vero would want to get all friendly with me. She’s been shooting glares at me since first year.”

“She has?” Lucy frowns. “I’ll make her stop, Laur. Promise.”

Lauren hums. “Like I said, good luck with that. I know she’s your best friend and all, but I don’t get why she’s so mean to me. It’s not like I did anything to her.”

“She’s protective.” Lucy explains. “Like, too protective, honestly. She thinks that because I’m muggle born, I’m more likely to get cursed by you or something.”

“Why would I curse you for that?” Lauren frowns. “I don’t even know any curses, really. Hexes and jinxes, yeah, but not curses. They’re dark magic.”

“Exactly, and you don’t do that stuff,” Lucy points out, “you’re one of my best friends, Laur. I trust you. Anyway… let’s head back up to the castle.”

“Okay,” Lauren passes Lucy the cloak and shifts into a cat again, hopping down from the bench and trotting away from her.

Lucy throws the cloak over herself, and follows Lauren through to Honeydukes and into the cellar. They head back down the passageway, and when they get out and they’re a decent way away from the one eyed witch statue, Lucy takes the cloak off and Lauren turns back into herself.

“Are you excited to find out who the Hogwarts champion is going to be?”

“Yeah,” Lauren grins at her. “I bet it’s you.”

“It’d be cool if it was…” Lucy thinks to herself, “one thousand galleons sounds pretty amazing. Not really interested in the whole ‘eternal glory’ side of things.”

Lauren laughs. “Come on. You can go in the Great Hall first. I’ll hang back for a few moments.”

Without thinking, Lucy pulls Lauren into a parting hug. “I’ll see you after dinner.”

“Yeah,” Lauren smiles. “See you after dinner.”

When Lucy heads into the Great Hall, Vero isn’t there yet, and she watches as Lauren sits down at the Slytherin table. She’s not so subtly admiring her friend when Vero sits down next to her. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Lucy greets her, “who do you think it’s going to be?”

“It better be a Ravenclaw.” Vero says. “If it’s not, I’ll be pissed. And hey, if it’s me, I’ll share the prize money with you, okay?”

“Same here,” Lucy smiles, “I hope it’s you. You’d do great.”

“So would you!” Vero grins, and opens her mouth to say something else, but McGonagall speaks up.

“The time has come,” McGonagall says, “to find out who our three champions are.”

The flames on the Goblet of Fire change colour, and a scrap of paper shoots out, falling into McGonagall’s hand. “The Durmstrang champion… Dinah Jane Hansen.”

A blonde girl from Durmstrang stands up, her peers cheering for her, and heads into a room at the back of the Great Hall. After a few moments, another piece of paper falls from the goblet. Lucy’s heart stops, and she really hopes it’s the Hogwarts champion. She can’t handle these nerves.

“The Beauxbatons champion,” McGonagall starts, “Camila Cabello.”

A small Latina girl stands up, her friends congratulating her with a loud applause, and she heads into the same room the Durmstrang girl had gone into. Lucy bites down on her lip anxiously, because the next name is the Hogwarts champion. As the goblet spits out another piece of paper, the hall goes silent.

“The Hogwarts champion…” McGonagall reads the paper, “Lauren Jauregui.”

Silence. Lucy looks over at Lauren, who’s as green as her robes, and she wants to go and pull her in for a hug, but she’s aware of how strange that’d look. There’s no applause as Lauren stumbles up to the front, takes the paper from McGonagall and goes into the room with the other champions.

Lucy pulls out her phone and sends her friend a text.

**_Lucia <3 (6:32PM): are you okay??_ **

**_Laur :D (6:32PM): I think I’m going to puke._ **

**_Lucia <3 (6:33PM): meet me in the room of requirement later_ **

**_Lucia <3 (6:33PM): alternatively you could escape, turn into a cat and leave the country, but id rather you didn’t do that because id miss you_ **

**_Laur :D (6:33PM): This wasn’t supposed to happen._ **

“What the actual _fuck_ ,” Vero’s voice gets her attention, and Lucy hastily locks her phone. “She probably confunded the goblet. There should be another chance. There’s no way- we can’t have _her_ for a champion.”

“The Goblet of Fire can’t be confunded,” Lucy points out, “there are so many protective spells on it. Nobody our age could do that. It picked her fair and square.”

“She’s a fucking Death Eater,” Vero shouts, “Hogwarts can’t be represented by _her_. She’s scum.”

Lucy huffs. “Leave her alone.”

Vero just glares over at McGonagall and the Goblet of Fire. “Fuck this. At least- I mean, people have died before. That’s the best we can hope for now.”

 _“Veronica Iglesias_ , you did _not_ just wish death on someone,” Lucy stands up and shakes her head, “I can’t- I can’t deal with you right now. I’m sorry.”

Vero scoffs. “Are you fucking serious? I can’t believe-”

But whatever Vero can’t believe, Lucy doesn’t care, because she heads out of the Great Hall and into the room of requirement. She flops down on the bed and grabs Lauren’s scarf out of her bag – she still hasn’t returned it – and curls up with it, inhaling her friend’s comforting scent.

Vero’s words had really struck a chord in her. She can’t believe that her best friend would say something like that, but at the same time, she’s so worried for Lauren, because Vero was right. People had died in the competition before.

The thought of losing Lauren really hurts her.

She doesn’t remember falling asleep – all she knows is that one minute, she’s crying into Lauren’s scarf, and the next, she’s being shaken awake by the same person. “Hey, Luc? What- what’s wrong? You’re crying…”

“I’m- it’s okay,” Lucy shakes her head and squeezes Lauren’s hand. “I’m just… worried for you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Lauren shrugs. “I’m tough. I’ll be fine. I just didn’t think… I’d get chosen. I thought it’d be someone like Vero. People don’t want me as their champion and I get that. Six people called me a Death Eater on the way here.”

“Hey,” Lucy sits up and pulls her in for a hug. “I’ll stand by you, okay? Screw everyone else. Fuck what Vero thinks.”

“It’s okay.” Lauren shakes her head. “I don’t want you to do that. I’ve been fine the past five years, right? I’ll be okay now, too.”

“So, um, what are the other champions like?” Lucy asks, knowing that Lauren will argue with her if she persists. “Are they really threatening?”

“They’re both really nice, actually,” Lauren says, “I think I looked like I was going to faint or something, because the girl from Beauxbatons, Camila, she started making really bad jokes to make me feel better. And Dinah was making fun of a bunch of people she’d seen around Hogwarts and it was really funny.”

“Not what I was expecting from the Durmstrang girl, especially,” Lucy replies, “she looked scary.”

Lauren shrugs. “They’re both so nice. I think they’ll be able to keep me company, so you don’t need to worry about ruining your rep.”

“I don’t have a ‘rep’ and even if I did, I wouldn’t fucking care,” Lucy folds her arms across her chest. “You’re my friend and I’m going to be there for you. Besides, when you inevitably kick butt in the first task and everyone loves you for it, I can be like ‘I liked her before it was cool’.”

Lauren snorts. “Fucking hipster.”

Lucy rolls her eyes. “Want to head back to your dorm? I don’t want to be around Vero, and you’re good to cuddle.”

Lauren frowns at her. “Why don’t you want to be around Vero?”

Lucy shrugs and puts Lauren’s scarf on in the hopes that it’ll help her blend in when they go through the Slytherin common room. “It’s not a big deal. Come on. I want cuddles.”

Lucy swears she sees Lauren’s cheeks tinted pink, but she shrugs it off as the younger girl takes her hand and follows her out of the room of requirement. Lauren reaches into her bag to get the cloak, but Lucy shakes her head.

“Don’t you want to use it?” Lauren frowns. “Aren’t you worried that people will-”

“Nope,” Lucy cuts her off and squeezes Lauren’s hand. “You’re my friend and I’m proud of it. Come on.”

Lauren lets Lucy lead her through the castle, aware of the weird looks they’re getting. A few people shout things like _Death Eater_ and _cheat_ at her, but it’s nothing she can’t handle. As long as they’re not jinxing her or anything.

They arrive at the entrance of the Slytherin common room, and Lauren says the password, expecting the usual quiet atmosphere. Instead, they’re greeted with loud cheers, and Lauren jumps, not expecting the noise.

(She swears she hears Lucy laughing at her.)

The next thing she’s aware of is Normani Kordei, Slytherin Quidditch captain, walking over to her with a smile. “Knew I picked a damn good Seeker.”

Lauren looks over at Lucy, who just smiles encouragingly, so she shrugs. “Um… thanks. What’s… what’s all of this?”

As she looks around the common room, she notices the food, clearly stolen from the kitchens, and a load of Slytherin banners that aren’t usually there.

“We need to celebrate our champion,” Normani shrugs, “a Slytherin is a Triwizard champion, so we’re going to party. Wait- isn’t this that Ravenclaw girl you nearly cost us a Quidditch match for?”

“I, uh,” Lauren lets out an awkward laugh. “Yeah. Um, Lucy, this is Normani. Normani, this is Lucy Vives.”

“Why’s she wearing a Slytherin scarf?” Normani asks, and after a few moments, she smiles. “She your girlfriend?”

“No!” Lauren is quick to respond, aware that her face has turned bright red. “I- uh, she’s just a friend.”

“Best friend,” Lucy adds with a smile, “and if you’ll have me, I’d be glad to join in with the celebrations. Laur and I were just going to hang out in her dorm.”

“Right,” Normani winks at them, “ _hang out_. Sure. Anyway, go help yourself to food, the elves in the kitchen were like, _way_ too happy to prepare it. And Lauren? We’re all hella proud that you’re representing Slytherin house.”

Lauren blushes and looks down at her feet. “Thanks.”

When Normani leaves them alone, Lucy turns to her with a grin. “See? Plenty of people are rooting for you.”

“I think it’s just…” Lauren shrugs, “just because I’m a Slytherin. They’re happy that a Slytherin is the champion. Not that it’s me.”

“Yeah, but you’re like, the best possible Slytherin,” Lucy points out, “you’re sweet, kind, caring, funny, intelligent, and basically every positive adjective under the sun.”

“I- _Luc_ ,” Lauren mumbles, “stop.”

“Aw,” Lucy teases her, “is little Lolo embarrassed?”

“ _Shut up_ ,” Lauren huffs, “or I’ll live up to Vero’s expectations and jinx you.”

“Hexing me after I just so kindly complimented you?” Lucy rolls her eyes. “Damn, Jauregui. Maybe you _are_ a dark wizard after all.”

Lauren blushes. “You’re the worst.”

Lucy laughs. “You love me really. Anyway, you want to spend time down here and go to your dorm and watch Netflix?”

“Um…” Lauren shrugs, “I guess we should just… go with our original plan. I kind of want to cuddle you. Also, I need to tell my mom about… this. It’s going to be in the _Daily Prophet_ who the champions are, and I think she’d rather hear it from me.”

“Okay,” Lucy grins, “FaceTime her. I want to meet your mom.”

As they head up the stairs to the dorms, Lauren’s face flushes. “Um… she might- might say embarrassing things.”

“All the more reason for me to meet her.” Lucy laughs. “It’ll be funny.”

“Fine,” Lauren huffs as she unlocks her bedroom door and lets Lucy inside in front of her. She closes the door behind them and grabs her phone from where she’d left it by her bed. She’s hyperaware of Lucy staring at her when she calls her mom, waiting for her to pick up.

When she’s greeted with her mom’s smiling face, Lauren beams back. “ _Hi, sweetheart. Is anything wrong? You never usually call me at this time.”_

“Um,” Lauren decides to get it out straight away, “you know how the school is hosting the Triwizard Tournament?”

“ _Yes, you mentioned you entered,”_ Clara says, “ _oh, was tonight when they picked the champions?”_

“Yeah, and, uh,” Lauren shrugs, “I’m kind of… one of them. I didn’t expect it to happen, and I’m just- uh, a little shocked by it all still. The Slytherins threw a party for me downstairs in the common room. It was kind of overwhelming.”

Even though Clara smiles, Lauren can tell she’s worried. _“I’m proud of you, but be careful in the tasks. People have been hurt before, Lauren.”_

“I know, but, I mean… I’m- I’m okay at quick thinking,” Lauren defends herself, “I think… if I’m in a bad situation, I’ll be able to think my way out of it. But, um, parents are invited to see the tasks. Maybe you and dad could come. Tay misses you a lot, so… it’d be good for her, too.”

As Clara replies, Lucy coughs loudly, and Lauren looks up and rolls her eyes. Patting the spot next to her, Lauren interrupts her mom and says, “Um, mom? This is my friend, Lucy. The one I told you about. Luc, this is my mom, Clara.”

Lucy flashes a smile, and Lauren is a little stunned when she grabs her hand and gives it a squeeze. “It’s really nice to meet you. Also nice to know that Lauren’s talked about me.”

Lauren blushes. “Not _that_ much.”

Clara sends Lauren a knowing smile. _“She adores you, Lucy. Every time she calls, it’s ‘Lucy did this’ or ‘I hung out with Lucy today and we’-”_

“Mom!” Lauren interrupts her, “yeah, we- uh, we have to go. Don’t want to miss the party downstairs. So… I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Before Clara can protest, Lauren hangs up the FaceTime call, Lucy’s laughter making her flush even redder than she already has.

“So…” Lucy grins, “you talk about me, huh?”

Lauren rolls her eyes. “Just… in passing.”

“Sure,” Lucy teases her, but noting how quiet Lauren has gone, squeezes her hand and adds, “I talk about you to my parents, too.”

“I guess you’ll get to meet my parents properly when they come for the first task,” Lauren comments, her heart warm at the thought of Lucy telling her mom about her. “If they can come, that is.”

“Anyway,” Lucy sits up and smiles, “let’s go and join the celebrations. It’s not every day my best friend gets a party thrown for her.”

Lauren follows Lucy out of her dorm with a grin.


	10. nine

Lucy is jealous.

It doesn’t take her long to realise it. It’s barely been a week since Lauren was announced as the Hogwarts champion, and all of the Slytherins had been flocking around her. Normani was by Lauren’s side constantly, claiming that she knew it’d be Lauren who’s the champion after seeing her fly at Quidditch tryouts.

Lucy has barely spoken to Lauren in the past week, because every time she does, the other girl’s fellow Slytherins always drag her away for something. So, Lucy has spent the past week in Vero’s constant company, like she always did. Before Lauren came along.

She’s glad that Lauren is making other friends, truly. Because she knows how upsetting it always was for the younger girl, to be alone all the time. She just doesn’t want to be replaced, and as childish as it sounds, she was Lauren’s friend _first_.

“Damn, what’s got you so bitchy this week?” Vero asks her with a frown as they sit down in the Great Hall on Thursday. Officially a week and two days since she and Lauren have hung out properly. “Are you still mad at me for what I said about Jauregui? Because I said I was sorry and-”

“It’s not that,” Lucy huffs, staring over at the Slytherin table. Lauren isn’t there yet, but there are already a bunch of Slytherins saving a spot for her. “I’m just… upset about things.”

Vero smiles knowingly. “You wish you were picked to be champion, right? Because it’s since then that you-”

“No,” Lucy cuts in, “it’s just school stress. Nothing to worry about.”

“Well…” Vero trails off, but smiles at something behind her. “Your friend is here.”

“My friend?” Lucy turns around, frowning. When she doesn’t see anybody, she’s about to ask Vero what the hell she’s talking about, but then she hears a small _meow_ and looks down. Her face breaks out into a grin and she pats the bench next to her.

Lauren, in her kitten form, jumps up onto the bench and clambers into her lap, curling up and purring. Lucy just smiles and pets her fur. “Hey, Lo.”

“Oh _god_ , you named it?” Vero groans. “It’s not your cat, Luc. Didn’t its owner tell you its actual name?”

“I never found her owner,” Lucy lies, scratching Lauren behind the ears. “She’s mine now.”

Lauren purrs, as if she’s totally okay with the idea, and Vero laughs. “Alright then. I guess she’s mine too, by default, since we share a dorm room.”

Lucy looks down at Lauren to gauge her reaction, and when Vero reaches out and pets her, Lauren _doesn’t_ recoil. Instead, she _meows_ and rubs against Vero affectionately. “Look, she’s being nice to you.”

“I don’t miss being hissed at,” Vero agrees with her, “anyway, what’re you going to do for your free period?”

“Probably just get some studying done,” Lucy says, standing up with Lauren in her arms. “I’ll see you later?”

“Sure,” Vero smiles, “later, Luc.”

Lucy turns and heads out of the Great Hall, carrying Lauren all the way up to the room of requirement. When the door closes behind them, the kitten jumps down from her arms, and suddenly, Lauren Jauregui is pulling her in for a tight hug.

“I missed you,” Lauren mumbles against her, “can we ditch classes and stay in here all day?”

“Yeah,” Lucy murmurs, “I don’t need to learn about plants. I need to cuddle you.”

Lauren beams. “Good. Every time I try to get away from the other Slytherins, they think of a reason to hang around me and I feel bad saying no.”

“I mean…” Lucy shrugs, “I had to admit that I got a little jealous.”

Lauren looks up in surprise, sitting down on the bed. “You did?”

“Yeah,” Lucy admits, “it was just, you were _my_ friend first and they all want to hang around you because you’re the Triwizard champion. _I_ like you because you’re you.”

Lauren laughs. “That’s such a first grade thing to say. ‘You were _my_ friend first’, I mean. Besides, I like you more than them. Normani is cool, but other than that…”

“I want you to have friends, Laur,” Lucy says, “and I know it’s dumb that I got jealous. But… I missed you. And like, two weeks ago, they were shoving you in the halls and calling you a Death Eater.”

“You were doing the same thing two months ago,” Lauren says, and when Lucy opens her mouth to protest, “well, no, you’re too nice for that. But you thought it. You’ve thought it since first year, probably because of others’ influence. Vero’s in particular.”

“Hey, she likes… she likes kitten Lauren,” Lucy weakly argues, sitting down on the bed next to Lauren and resting her head on her friend’s shoulder. “And I- I didn’t think-”

“Lucy, it’s okay. I know you did,” Lauren interrupts with a laugh. “Like, I asked you to walk to class with me that time and you looked like I’d just murdered a kitten in front of you. And in first year when I talked to you-”

“Wait, what?” Lucy frowns, “First year? We didn’t talk until this year.”

“You don’t remember?” Lauren laughs when Lucy shakes her head. “Oh. Well, in our first Defence Against the Dark Arts class, I- uh, it’s kind of embarrassing, actually…”

“What?” Lucy sits up with a frown, “What’d you say? I really don’t remember.”

“I told you…” Lauren trails off, and Lucy picks up on the pink tint to her cheeks. “I told you I thought you were pretty- still- uh, still _are_ , I mean. And you just stared at me and walked away.”

Lucy’s stomach flips at Lauren’s words and she pulls her friend in for a hug. “That’s so fucking cute, Laur.”

“It’s _embarrassing,_ ” Lauren repeats, hiding her face in Lucy’s shoulder. “After that, I ditched my next class and wrote a really sad letter to my mom about how I wanted to come home. I didn’t get why people were being so mean.”

Lucy frowns. “You didn’t know about your… sperm donor?”

Lauren laughs at Lucy’s choice of wording and shrugs, “I knew he was an ass and that he was in Azkaban, because my mom always bitched about him. But I didn’t know about the Voldemort stuff. My mom figured I was too young to know. I mean, even after she told me, it was like… I figured a lot of other kids would have parents who were associated with Voldemort. Not just me. But then… he did a lot of bad things. Tortured muggles for fun. Drove a few muggle born kids here to insanity in the Battle of Hogwarts. I- I read up on the more… grizzly details that my mom wouldn’t tell me.”

“Damn…” Lucy squeezes Lauren’s hand, “you know, for some reason, I don’t think he’d approve of this friendship.”

Lauren actually laughs at her lame attempt of a joke. “Yeah, I don’t think so either. My mom adores you, though. Pretty sure she thought I was making you up until she met you the other night.”

“Can I meet her in person when she comes to see the first task?” Lucy asks, pouting when Lauren shakes her head. “Why not? Don’t be lame, Laur.”

“She can’t come,” Lauren answers, “she’s a Healer, so… she can’t get away from her work. She has to book time off a while in advance and the first task is in less than a month, which… is kind of scary. Going into it blind and all…”

Lucy shrugs, “Well, I’ll be there supporting you. And your new Slytherin stalkers will be, too. But you don’t have to go into the task blind… you have an invisibility cloak, just sneak into the staff room under it and listen in on their gossip. They’ll probably talk about the tasks.”

Lauren looks at her for a moment. “How are _you_ not a Slytherin? That’s pretty cunning.”

Lucy laughs, “I guess I’m an honorary one, considering I frequent the common room a lot. We could go to Ravenclaw tower now, if you want?”

Lauren frowns. “I don’t have my cloak-”

“Good, we don’t need it,” Lucy interrupts, “turn into a cat for the walk there, though. I don’t want your new _friends_ to ambush us and take you away.”

Lauren coughs, but it sounds a lot like ‘ _jealous’_ , so Lucy gives her a shove in reply.

“I’m _not_ jealous,” Lucy murmurs, “but you’re _my_ best friend, not theirs.”

“I don’t get jealous when you hang around Vero,” Lauren points out. “Besides, what happened to ‘I want you to have friends’.”

“I do!” Lucy defends herself. “But you’re not allowed to like them more than you like me.”

Lauren sends her a small smile. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

Before Lucy can ask her what she means, Lauren shifts into a kitten, and is padding towards the door. She looks back when she realises Lucy isn’t following, and stares at her as if to say ‘ _are you coming or not?’_ so Lucy stands up and follows Lauren out of the door.

She leads the way to Ravenclaw tower, but they’re held up by Lucy, who’s too busy staring down at Lauren and thinking _oh my god, so adorable_ , to pay attention to where she’s walking. When she looks up, she comes face to face with the Beauxbatons champion. Camila something, wasn’t it?

“Oh, sorry,” Camila says, before her gaze lands on Lauren and she beams, “Oh my god, you have the _cutest_ cat.”

Lucy laughs and looks down at Lauren, who is clearly enjoying the attention as Camila pets her fur. “Actually, she’s kind of whiney. You can take her if you want.”

Lauren _meows_ indignantly, and Camila smiles. “It’s like she’s talking to you. That’s adorable.”

After a few moments, Lucy looks back up at Camila and says, “So, what do you think of the Hogwarts champion? Good competition? Personally, I don’t think she’ll last five seconds.”

Camila frowns at her as Lauren lets out an offended hiss. “I think she’s sweet. Seemed pretty terrified, but if the Goblet of Fire picked her, clearly she’s good competition. She mentioned people here are kind of mean…”

“I’m kidding,” Lucy says, not liking Camila’s wary glare, “she’s my best friend. And she’s going to win.”

Camila’s demeanour lightens and she laughs. “We’ll see about that.”

When they part ways and end up outside Ravenclaw tower, Lauren turns back into herself and scowls at Lucy. “I won’t last _five seconds._ You have so little faith in me. I’m going to last at least ten.”

“Hey, you know I’m rooting for you,” Lucy defends herself, squeezing her hand, “Turn back into a cat. You’re nicer like that. There’s no mouthing off, it’s great.”

Lauren snorts. “Shut up and answer the damn riddle. I want to sit down.”

Lauren ends up being the one to answer the riddle, and follows Lucy into the common room. Instead of heading up to her dorm, Lucy pulls Lauren into a couch by the fire and sits down next to her.

“Sometimes it gets cold up here,” Lucy explains. “The seats by the fire are the best ones.”

Lauren hums in reply and puts her feet up. “People are staring at us.”

“I don’t care,” Lucy shrugs, “Keana has her Gryffindor friends in here all the time.”

“It’s because it’s me,” Lauren murmurs, “we should just go up to your dorm and-”

“And _no_ ,” Lucy interrupts, “because we’re staying here. Those Slytherins are stealing you away and I don’t like it, so everyone is going to know that _I_ was your friend first.”

Lauren laughs. “You really _are_ jealous.”

Lucy huffs and pulls Lauren in for a hug. “I don’t want to be replaced because we don’t hang out in public.”

“You’re not getting replaced,” Lauren promises her, “I mean… _they’re_ not the ones I’m inviting to stay during the Christmas holidays. Obviously not _on_ Christmas, but… but after. You can come and stay for a few days and hang out with me. If you want.”

Lucy sits up and grins. “Seriously? Are your parents okay with this?”

“My mom was the one who suggested it,” Lauren tells her, “I wasn’t sure if you’d-”

“Of course I want to come,” Lucy beams, “I’ll talk to my parents tonight and let them know I’m staying at a friend’s.”

“Good.” Lauren smiles. “I was kind of scared you’d say no, since-”

“What the fuck is this?”

Lauren and Lucy tense up at the same time, and when Lucy looks around, she sees a _very_ angry looking Veronica Iglesias.

Lauren expects Lucy to push her away. Vero has been Lucy’s best friend for years. Lauren’s been in the picture for a few months. She wouldn’t be mad – she knows that Lucy values her friendship with Vero – but she’s incredibly shocked when Lucy holds her tighter and says, “Vero, calm down.”

Vero’s eyes widen, as if she hadn’t expected Lucy to say that. “Why? You _know_ what she’s like. She’s probably planning on making you trust her, and then cursing you behind your back. What are you even doing with her?”

“Lauren’s my friend.” Without thinking, Lucy laughs. “She’s had plenty of chance to curse me and hasn’t yet. I trust her.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Vero shakes her head and grabs her arm, pulling her up. “You’re going to the hospital wing. You’re obviously under the imperius curse or something.”

“I’m not- _Vero_ ,” Lucy pulls her arm free from Vero’s grasp and rolls her eyes. “You’re being ridiculous. I’m fine.”

Vero turns on Lauren. “What the _fuck_ did you do to her, huh?”

“Nothing!” Lauren defends herself. “God, honestly, Veronica, I don’t get why you hate me so much, but-”

“Because you’re a fucking _Death Eater_ ,” Vero snaps, pushing Lauren up against the wall, not caring about how many people are staring. “Answer me properly. What the fuck did you do to my best friend?”

“Nothing,” Lauren is quick to reply, holding her hands up in defence, “Luc, please can you-”

“ _What_ did you just call her?” Vero scowls and points her wand to Lauren’s throat, “You know what? I think I’ll show you what happens when you mess with my friends. _Entom--”_

 _“Expelliarmus,”_ Lucy disarms Vero before she can finish the incantation, “leave her alone.”

“You’ve been acting strange ever since we started the school year,” Vero points out, “ever since you’ve gotten all buddy-buddy with _her_. It’s not that hard to realise what she’s done.”

“She hasn’t done anything,” Lucy is quick to counter, “okay? But I thought it at the Sorting and I’m saying it now – she doesn’t deserve how she’s treated. She can’t help being related to someone-”

Vero steps back and points her wand back at Lauren. “You’re coming to Madam Pomfrey with me, right after I jinx her.”

“Okay, no,” Lucy steps between Vero and Lauren and shakes her head, “I’ll go to the hospital wing with you, because Madam Pomfrey will be able to tell you that I’m perfectly fine. But Lauren’s coming with us so you can apologise properly when you’re proven wrong.”

Vero glares at Lauren and doesn’t put her wand away. “Fine. But when I’m proven _right_ , I’m hexing her into next year.”

At Vero’s words, Lauren grabs Lucy’s hand, and the older girl squeezes it a little. Lucy keeps her wand out too – the last thing she wants is for Vero to try and pull a surprise attack on Lauren, and she can see that Lauren’s wand is up the sleeve of her robes.

“Thank you,” Lauren murmurs to her as they’re climbing the stairs to the hospital wing, “For defending me, I mean. You’re officially off the hook for last time.”

Realising that they’re still holding hands, Lucy drops Lauren’s hand but sends her a smile. “It’s okay. I’m not going to let her accuse you of something you didn’t do. You wouldn’t use an Unforgivable Curse on anyone.”

“My brother used one on me once,” Lauren mentions offhandedly, “I broke his Sneakoscope and he tried the Cruciatus Curse on me. It didn’t work since he was like, ten and using my mom’s wand.”

“Seriously?” Lucy’s eyes widen, “But that’s like… actual _torture_? All because you broke a Sneakoscope.”

“It was signed by an Auror,” Lauren explains, “and apparently it wasn’t very sturdy, because literally all I did was sit on it and it snapped in half. Plus, I don’t think he really realised what it did.”

Lucy laughs. “Are you sure it was even a real Sneakoscope, because-”

“Alright,” Before she can finish her question, Vero grabs her by the arm and pulls her into the hospital wing, getting Madam Pomfrey’s attention. “My friend is under the Imperius Curse.”

Madam Pomfrey looks sceptical. “I doubt anyone in this school has the ability to perform that curse.”

“What about a Death Eater?” Vero glares at Lauren, who eyes Vero’s wand and grips her own tightly. “I have reason to believe she’s talking to her Voldemort supporting father.”

Madam Pomfrey checks Lucy over and shakes her head. “She’s not under any type of enchantment, and you’ve made a rather big accusation there.”

“She admitted to it!” Vero says as Lucy shoots her a look that’s supposed to read _shut up_. “She said her parents bought her a broom! Parent _s,_ plural!”

“If you have a problem, take it up with Professor McGonagall,” Madam Pomfrey replies, and kicks them out of the hospital wing, muttering about disturbing patients.

After a few moments of silence, Lucy clears her throat. “I think you have something to say, Vero.”

“I’m going to McGonagall,” Vero ignores her completely, “even if she hasn’t cursed you, McGonagall will want to know that she still talks to her Death Eater father.”

“She doesn’t!” Lucy argues, grabbing a quiet Lauren by the wrist and pulling her along to chase after Vero, who’s headed to the gargoyle that guards the headmistress’s office. “Veronica Iglesias, get back here!”

When Vero doesn’t stop, Lucy pulls out her wand and shouts, “ _Petrificus totalus!”_

Lauren stares at her in shock as Vero falls to the floor, trapped in the full body-bind curse. “What did- why- _Lucy_ …?”

“She was going to cause trouble,” Lucy says, “now help me carry her somewhere.”

“I- I mean…” Lauren trails off as Lucy tries her best to carry Vero by herself, “I’m not sure… shouldn’t we just perform the counter curse? This seems like a bad idea. Where are you even taking her?”

“Room of requirement,” Lucy says, “and I’ll need help getting her up the stairs. _Please_ , Lo?”

Lauren blinks in surprise at the nickname, but helps her carry Vero up to the seventh floor and into the room of requirement. She can tell Vero is pissed – honestly, who wouldn’t be – but Lucy performs the counter curse, ready for her best friend to kill her.

“What the _fuck_ , Lucy?” Vero glares at her when she gets up, and Lucy’s totally ready for a jinx to come her way. “What was that for?”

“You were going to cause a scene with McGonagall and she has enough going on with organising the Tournament,” Lucy says, “ _and_ Lauren’s not in contact with her dad. Right, Lo?”

“Um, yeah,” Lauren answers, “I mean- uh, no? I- not the- the man who birthed me- well, not birthed me, you know what I mean, but-”

“Lauren,” Lucy grabs her friend’s hand and gives it a small squeeze, “we’re fine. Vero’s not going to McGonagall _and_ she’s going to apologise to you. Right, V?”

Vero stares at Lucy for a moment, who sends her a stern look. Eventually, Vero sighs and lets out a bitter, “Sorry, Jauregui.”

“It’s okay,” Lauren looks anywhere but Vero and shrugs, “I- I mean, I’m not totally okay with all of the stuff you call me, but I’m kind of scared of you, so…”

“Okay, if you’re scared of me,” Vero glares at her, “stay the fuck away from my best friend.”

“I- I won’t hurt her,” Lauren anxiously glances over to Lucy. “She’s… she’s my friend, too. And those things people say, they’re not _true_. I don’t hate muggles or muggle born students. My dad is a muggle!”

Vero scoffs, “I don’t know what kind of potion fumes you’ve been inhaling, but your dad was a purist Death Eater who’s sitting in Azkaban right now, and he’s probably going to get the Dementor’s Kiss soon. And I hope you do, too.”

“Okay, that’s harsh,” Lucy steps in, “Lauren hasn’t done anything to you, Vero. You’re my best friend and I love you, but you’re acting crazy.”

“I care about you,” Vero exasperatedly replies, “why do you think I’m keeping her away from you? Because she’s a fucking Death Eater. Listen to the bullshit she’s spouting like saying her fucking dad’s a muggle. Yeah, right. We all know what your dad is, Jauregui. Now leave my friend the fuck alone.”

“I didn’t mean that,” Lauren huffs and sits down in one of the armchairs by the fire. “My stepdad, I guess you’d call him that. He’s a muggle. But I’ve known him since I was three, so in my head, he’s my dad. Not my… sperm donor.”

Lucy snorts with laughter at that and Lauren sends her a grin. “I’ll still never get over the sperm donor thing.”

“Mhm,” Lauren hums in reply, “Well, that’s all he is. But that’s beside the point. I don’t even remember my real dad, okay? The last time I saw him was when I was like, one, and he was carted off to Azkaban. And rightfully so.”

Vero narrows her eyes. “We all saw what was in the _Daily Prophet_. Your mom acting like she didn’t realise what he’d done and pretending he was innocent-”

“She didn’t know,” Lauren interrupts, “and she didn’t tell me all of the details until after I got here and nobody would talk to me for something I hardly knew anything about.”

Vero takes a few moments to think of a comeback. “That’s bullshit. How could you not know, growing up in the wizarding world? You’re a pureblood. You’re all about wizards and magic being superior.”

“My mom kept me away from that,” Lauren replies, “and it’s not like I cared. I was a kid, I was content to watch the fucking Teletubbies and eat chicken nuggets. In fact, I only started caring about it because everybody here seemed to. I tried to ignore it, obviously – I was eleven, which is still basically a kid, and all I wanted to do was have the experience my mom told me she had here. She made out like Hogwarts was this wonderful place where I’d meet friends for life. Instead it was my own personal hell.”

Lucy’s stomach drops, and without thinking, she pulls Lauren in for a hug. The younger girl seems a little too startled for Lucy’s liking, but after a few moments of tension, hugs her back and gives her a small squeeze around the waist.

When Lauren lets go, Lucy flashes her a smile. “You’ve got a friend for life, okay? Me.”

Lauren’s cheeks flush pink and she stares down at the ground. “I know, Luc.”

“I’m serious,” Lucy continues, “no more sneaking around under your cloak or… the other thing. Even though I was going to do this out of jealousy anyway, I’ll sit at the Slytherin table with you tomorrow for breakfast, and I’ll even deal with your new stalkers-”

“You can’t do that,” Vero interrupts her, “I won’t let you.”

Lucy rolls her eyes. “You don’t get to dictate what I do, Vero. You’re my best friend, not my mom.”

“The Slytherins don’t exactly like Ravenclaw since we beat them in both the house cup and the Quidditch cup last year,” Vero continues, “she’s sitting at the Ravenclaw table with us.”

Both Lauren and Lucy are taken off guard by that. Lauren’s eyes widen, and she looks at Lucy, probably double checking that she wasn’t the only one to hear that. “What did you just say?”

“Don’t make me regret my decision, Jauregui,” Vero rolls her eyes, “You’re sitting at the Ravenclaw table with us. That’s what I said.”

Once the words finally sink in, Lucy sends her best friend a grateful smile. “Thank you, Vero.”

Vero sighs. “Look, you’re my best friend and I hate fighting with you. If she’s your friend… I guess she’s mine too. If you’ll accept my apology, Jauregui.”

“Um, yeah,” Lauren nods before Vero can say anything, “I don’t really- as long as you’re not threatening to hex me, we’re good, I guess?”

“Okay,” Vero nods, and Lucy sends her a stern look, because she kind of wants a real apology out of her, but she knows she probably won’t get one. “Then we’re good.”

Lucy looks over at Lauren and smiles, “I guess you’re not going to reverse the thing you did to her phone for all that?”

Lauren lets out a nervous laugh. “Uh, no. Unless you think I should.”

“Wait, that was _you_?” Vero stares at them both like they’ve grown extra heads. “What’d you do to it? Was it dark-” at Lucy’s stern look, Vero cuts herself off and sighs, “I mean… how’d you figure that out?”

“I had a lot of time on my hands,” Lauren shrugs, “and the only people that’d talk to me were my family, and owl post isn’t exactly the best method of communication. It was in my third year when I worked it out, and it took me like, forever to think of the refilling charm to charge the battery.”

“Well, uh,” Vero shrugs, “You’re, uh, crazy smart. And thanks for fixing it.”

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Lauren smiles. “Lucy asked me, so… thank her.”

Lucy reaches over and squeezes Lauren’s hand. “I didn’t think you’d say yes, though.”

After looking between them still frowning a little, Vero looks over to the door. “Um… it’s like… nearly lunch, so...”

Lucy looks over at Lauren. “Are you coming?”

“I mean,” Lauren shrugs, “I guess so.”

“Good,” Lucy smiles, “but turn into a cat on the way there. You’re sitting with _me_ , not your stalkers.”

“They’re not stalkers!” Lauren laughs. “They’re just… enthusiastic about having a Slytherin champion.”

“Whatever,” Lucy rolls her eyes, “I still don’t want to be ambushed.”

When Lauren shifts into a cat, Vero’s jaw drops. “But- I- _what_? That was _her_? The whole time?”

Lucy laughs. “Yeah. Don’t worry, I was as shocked as you.”

“But- but she’s an Animagus?” Vero looks down at the cat in shock. “ _How_?”

“She’s smart,” Lucy shrugs, “And like I said – plenty of opportunities to hex me as an unassuming kitten. I trust Lauren and you should too.”

Vero frowns down at the kitten, who rubs against Lucy’s leg. “Fine. Whatever.”

When they arrive outside of the Great Hall, Lauren turns back into herself, and holds Lucy’s hand as they walk in. People stare – especially when they sit down at the Ravenclaw table together – but neither Lauren nor Lucy care that much.

Lucy sits between Vero and Lauren – while her best friend is being civil, she doesn’t think they’ll be making friendship bracelets just yet – and when they’re halfway through eating, Normani comes over. “Hey, Lauren. You coming to sit with us?”

“Um… no,” Lauren says, looking over at the big group of Slytherins at the opposite table. “I’m, uh, good here. You’re welcome to join, if you want…”

Normani smiles and sits down. “Sure. You two having a little lunch date?”

Lucy looks up with a frown. “We’re not dating.”

(Not that she’d be _opposed_ to that, but still.)

“Sure,” Normani answers, not looking like she believes them at all, before nodding over at a very confused looking Vero, “And you’re…?”

“Vero Iglesias,” Vero replies, “Friends with… these two.”

After Normani greets her and pulls Lauren into a conversation, Vero, tugs on Lucy’s robes and whispers, “ _Are_ you dating her? Because if you are… I support you. You could’ve told me…”

“No, no, we’re really not,” Lucy is quick to say, “she’s just my friend.”

“But like… she’s totally into you,” Vero points out, “I mean, I always saw her staring at you, but I figured she was just trying to curse you or something. But like… knowing that you two are friends… she clearly wants more.”

Lucy snorts. “No she doesn’t. She’s just-”

“These seats taken?”

Lucy looks up to see the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons champions standing in front of them. “Um… Laur?”

“No,” Lauren says, “um, they’re not. Hi, guys.”

“Hey, Lauren,” the Durmstrang girl says, “feeling better?”

“Uh, yeah,” Lauren nods, “thanks, Dinah.”

“Guess you weren’t lying,” Camila addresses Lucy, “you really are _friends_.”

A little surprised by the teasing emphasis on _friends_ , Lucy frowns, but she tries not to worry about it. _Why_ people think they’re together, even though they’ve barely hung out in public, kind of stumps her. Even though Lucy _does_ feel something for Lauren, she’s been trying to supress it, because until this week, she was Lauren’s only friend.

But maybe she doesn’t need to supress it anymore. Because looking at the people around them – Normani, Dinah, Camila… maybe even Vero, in the future – Lauren _has_ friends.

Maybe Lucy could be something more.


	11. ten

Lauren is busy in the library, looking up as many offensive and defensive spells as she possibly can. The first task is in two weeks, and it seems she’ll be going in blind, because she hasn’t been told anything, and she doesn’t know what she’ll need. That’s why she’s studying _everything_.

She’s in the middle of looking through _Standard Book of Spells: Grade 7_ , when the chairs next to her are pulled out, and she looks up to see Camila and Dinah. “Um… can I help you guys?”

“No,” Camila shakes her head, “we’re here to help you.”

Dinah nods. “We know what the first task is. Madame Maxime told Mila, and then Mila told me.”

“It’s like a course, kind of. It’s in the castle.” Camila tells her. “They’re already setting it up. Apparently there’s loads of small tasks, and it’s like a challenge from each subject. You have to get through all of them to get a clue for the second task.”

Lauren looks at all of the books around her. “Good thing I’m studying everything, then. Thanks for telling me, guys.”

Dinah smiles. “No worries. We’re friends, right?”

“Yeah,” Camila agrees. “The whole point of this competition is to make friends. Even though I’m inevitably going to crush you both.”

Dinah snorts. “If anything involves flying, you’ll fall straight off the broom. You know she tripped over her own feet yesterday?”

Camila rolls her eyes. “Shut up, Dinah.”

Lauren just laughs. “Don’t worry, I’m kind of clumsy too. Lucy makes fun of me for tripping up the stairs to the room of requirement all the time.”

“Oh, yeah,” Camila and Dinah exchange a look, and Lauren frowns at the two of them, and Camila continues in a teasing tone, “ _Lucy_.”

Dinah smirks. “Your girl.”

“She’s not- _no_ ,” Lauren shakes her head, heat creeping up her neck and into her face. “Lucy is just a friend.”

“A friend who you have the hots for,” Dinah points out, “right? I’m totally right.”

Camila laughs. “Aw, she’s blushing. You’ve embarrassed her, DJ.”

“Okay, shut up,” Lauren mumbles, “it’s not- it’s not a big deal. It’s not like it’s a huge crush or something, and I’m perfectly content with being just friends.”

“She likes you back, you know,” Dinah points out, “anyone can see how smitten you both are. Just ask the girl out, damn.”

“I don’t want to ruin things,” Lauren argues, and her gaze flits over to Camila, who doesn’t seem to be paying much attention, because she’s staring at Dinah, biting her lip, and watching as the Durmstrang girl rants about how Lauren should just _ask Lucy out already_.

Lauren smirks when she notices Camila’s leering, because if she’s going to get teased about _her_ crush, then she’s going to tease Camila right back.

“Anyway,” Dinah says, “After that rant that you definitely didn’t hear, I’m going to go to the Great Hall. You guys have amazing food here. Mila, you coming?”

“Actually, Camila, I need to talk to you,” Lauren announces before Camila can answer. “Alone.”

Dinah frowns at the two of them. “Um, rude? Why can’t I hear?”

“It’s about something I think Camila wants to keep a secret,” Lauren points out, before she sends the younger Latina a sickly sweet smile. “Right, Camz?”

Camila narrows her eyes, but waves Dinah away. “I’m going to see what she’s talking about. Wait for me in the Great Hall? I won’t be long.”

“Sure,” Dinah looks at them suspiciously, but leaves the library, casting a concerned glance over her shoulder as she disappears out of the door.

Camila turns to Lauren with a frown. “What do you need to talk to me about?”

Lauren smiles to herself. “You like Dinah.”

“ _What?”_ Camila’s eyes widen, and her face turns bright red, but she coughs and says, “I mean, what? No, I don’t, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“ _Please_ ,” Lauren rolls her eyes, “if you’re going to constantly tell me I like Lucy, then I’m going to do the same to you. Just admit it.”

Camila narrows her eyes. “I’ll say it if you do.”

“Fine,” Lauren shrugs, “I like Lucy. Your turn.”

“Okay,” Camila nods in reply, checking around them to make sure nobody is listening. “Fine. I- I like Dinah.”

It comes out so fast that it sounds like one word, but Lauren smiles triumphantly. “Good. Tell her.”

Camila scoffs. “I’ll tell her when you tell Lucy.”

“Oh,” Lauren hums in thought, “I guess that’s never, then. Maybe if Lucy and I had never spoken, because then I wouldn’t have had anything to lose. But with her being my best friend, it’s like… I might lose her, and I can’t.”

“I have a feeling she wouldn’t want to lose you, either,” Camila shrugs. “If you ever tell her, I think you’d have a shot.”

Lauren just sighs, electing to change the subject. “So… how’re you preparing for the first task?”

Camila smirks at her. “Can’t reveal my secrets. Maybe I’ll tell you when I win.”

Lauren laughs. “Don’t count on it.”

Camila stands up, pushing her chair in. “I can already tell you that Beauxbatons are going to be the winners. And that’ll be down to me.”

Lauren hums. “You tell yourself that. I’ve got a lot riding on this.”

Camila laughs, but doesn’t argue with her. Instead, she nods towards the library doors. “I’m going to go catch up with Dinah. I’ll see you at dinner?”

“Yeah,” Lauren replies, deciding that she’s going to stay put and read up on as much as she can. “I’ll see you later.”

As Camila’s tiny figure retreats, Lauren pulls her wand from her bag and practices transfiguring her quill into something useful. She doesn’t know what she’ll need in the first task, and though Dinah and Camila’s information had helped her a little, it’s still quite a broad task.

She’s looking up a few useful charms when the chair in front of her is pulled out again, and she looks up, planning on politely telling whoever it is that she’s busy. The words evaporate in her throat when she meets Lucy’s warm brown eyes.

As if it’s reflex, Lauren smiles. “Hey, Luc.”

“Studying for the first task?” Lucy asks, and Lauren nods. “Should I leave you alone?”

“No,” Lauren is quick to answer, “no, you can… you can stay.”

Lucy smiles. “What’re you working on? Maybe I can help.”

Knowing that there’s absolutely no way she’s going to focus with _Lucy Vives_ sat across from her, Lauren puts her wand on the desk and closes _The Standard Book of Spells – Grade 7._ “No, I think maybe I deserve a break. I skipped double Potions with the Gryffindors this morning. I’m not sure Slughorn will be too happy.”

Lucy shrugs. “Well, he’s head of Slytherin. He won’t want to take points off his own house. Want to sneak down to Hogsmeade? We could grab some butterbeer again.”

“I think I’ll wait until the next Hogsmeade weekend and go with you.” Lauren says, knowing that she’ll probably regret that decision, judging by the last time she went to Hogsmeade _not_ hidden under her invisibility cloak or disguised as a cat. “You know, since we don’t need to worry about Vero’s reaction if she saw us together anymore.”

Lucy smiles. “That’s true. We can get some of our Christmas shopping done.”

That sparks Lauren’s memory. “Oh! I talked to my parents, and they said you can come over during Christmas break. You know, if you want.”

Lucy grins. “I’d love that. I’ll let my parents know later. We could spend New Year’s Eve together if that’s okay with your family.”

“Yeah,” Lauren hums in thought, imagining what it’d be like if Lucy was her New Year’s kiss. If Lucy was her girlfriend and they were going into the new year together.

But that’s not how things are, Lauren reminds herself. _Lucy is just your friend, and that’s how it’s going to stay._

“Hey,” Lucy reaches over and taps Lauren’s arm, because Lauren had kind of spaced out a little, sucked into a daydream about a domesticated life with Lucy, maybe in muggle careers or maybe in magic ones. “Room of requirement?”

At Lucy’s words, Lauren snaps out of her trance and nods. “Um, yeah. Let’s go.”

Lauren packs her books away, putting the library owned ones back on the shelves, making sure she puts them exactly where she’d found them – Madame Pince would flay her alive if she didn’t – and follows Lucy out of the library, tucking her wand into the pocket of her robes.

She’s aware of the stares they get as they make their way up to the room of requirement. It’s mostly Ravenclaws glaring – they’re bitter that the school champion isn’t in their house, and that one of their own is constantly hanging around Lauren – but Lauren’s been garnering a lot more stares lately. Ever since the announcement, she’s been looked at like an animal in a zoo.

She doesn’t really care – she’s used to being stared at – but it’s Lucy she’s worried about. Worried that judgement from their peers might make her scared to be friendly to her in public again.

“Hey,” When Lucy grabs her hand, Lauren nearly jumps ten feet into the air. “You okay? You seem pretty spaced out today.”

“Just… thinking,” Lauren shrugs, thinking up an excuse. “It’s mostly nerves for the first task. People already think I don’t deserve to be the Hogwarts champion, and I kind of believe them.”

Lucy snorts. “The Goblet of Fire picked _you_. Which means you’re like, ten times better than anyone else who put their name forward.”

“I guess,” Lauren hums in thought, “will you be there to watch?”

It’s a dumb question, and Lauren knows that; the whole school, and the shortlisted students that came from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be there, but the idea that Lucy is there for _her_ , and not just because of the Tournament would be comforting.

“Of course I will be,” Lucy smiles. “I’ll be front and centre, cheering you on. And I’m going to wear your scarf I still have, because that’s your house colours.”

Lauren laughs. “I’m going to need that back, you know. It’s nearing winter.”

“You can have mine,” Lucy says, “be the honorary Ravenclaw you are. I mean, you’re smart and all. Probably smarter than I few Ravenclaws I know.”

“Slytherins are smart. We just use our brains in different ways,” Lauren replies. “You know, we have the three best qualities of all the houses. Intelligence, but we don’t use it solely on schoolwork. Loyalty, to those who are loyal to us. And bravery, but it’s not _mindless_ bravery like Gryffindors. We know when to take a look at the situation and when _not_ to act.”

Lucy laughs. “I thought you told the Sorting Hat you didn’t want to be in Slytherin?”

Lauren just shrugs. “I guess you could say it’s grown on me.”

Lucy opens her mouth to say something as they round a corner, but bumps into a short witch who looks a few years older than them. “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay,” The witch smiles at them, before her gaze lands on Lauren and she smiles even wider. It’s then that Lauren recognises her. “There’s the little champion.”

“Ally?” Lauren beams and hugs her friend. Ally was an older student at Hogwarts, and probably the only person before sixth year she’d ever considered a friend. They weren’t too close, but Ally always went out of her way to be nice to Lauren.

Lauren figures that’s just because it’s _Ally_. That’s the kind of person she is.

Lucy looks between them. “You two know each other?”

“Oh, yeah, this is Ally,” Lauren says with a smile. “She used to be a student here.”

“I left Hogwarts two years back,” Ally says, still smiling warmly. “I was a Hufflepuff.”

Lauren smiles. “What’re you doing here?”

Ally doesn’t take long to explain. “I was nominated by the Ministry to come and be one of the judges, since head teachers tend to be biased. So you won’t get any favouritism.”

Lucy squeezes Lauren’s hand. “She doesn’t need it. Lauren’s going to win.”

Lauren turns almost as scarlet as the hood in a Gryffindor’s robes at Lucy’s words. She’s not sure she’ll ever get used to _Lucy Vives_ giving her compliments.

After a laugh, Ally says, “Well, I have to go to McGonagall and tell her I’m here. Good luck in the first task, Lauren.”

“Thanks, Ally,” Lauren smiles, and watches as the shorter girl disappears down the corridor. “Anyways, let’s go, I kind of want a nap.”

Lucy follows after her with a frown. “Aren’t you going to explain how you know her? I thought I was your first friend here.”

“Wow, jealous Lucy strikes again,” Lauren comments, and Lucy gives her a light shove as they arrive in front of the room of requirement. “She wasn’t really a _friend_. Just an acquaintance. She went out of her way to sit with me and stuff, but that’s just because she’s Ally. She does that stuff with everyone.”

“Oh,” Lucy replies as the door to the room appears in front of them. She pushes it open and follows Lauren inside. “Well, I mean, I never saw you with her or anything.”

“I know,” Lauren flops down on the bed and lets out a sigh of relief, happy she hadn’t elected to stay in the library after all. “It was mostly just when I was out in the grounds by myself, Ally would say hi and make conversation. Sometimes sit down with me for a while. Not enough to associate herself with the eleven year old kid that’s _obviously_ Voldemort 2.0.”

Lauren feels the bed dip and Lucy lay down next to her. “I’m sorry, Lo.”

Lauren frowns, and shifts on her side to meet Lucy’s warm, and weirdly _guilty_ looking brown eyes. “What’re you sorry for?”

“For listening to Vero,” Lucy says, “Like, I’ve said this before, but I really am sorry. I should’ve just spoken to you. We could’ve been friends way earlier.”

Lauren shifts closer to Lucy, her heart pounding as she cuddles up to her friend. “I know. But we’re friends now, and that’s what counts. You don’t need to apologise to me, Luc.”

“Are you sure?” Lucy asks her.

“Positive,” Lauren answers without thinking about it. “You’re my best friend, Lucy. You have nothing to apologise for. I promise.”

“Okay,” Lucy hums and squeezes her hand. “And Vero will come around. I know she will.”

Lauren isn’t too sure about that, but she doesn’t shoot Lucy’s claims down. Instead, she closes her eyes, feeling content hearing Lucy’s heartbeat and with her best friend’s hand through hers.


End file.
